LB 3485 
.T5 
Copy 1 



Saved From 



Tuberculosis 



or 



The Happy Sunshine School 



Sunshine, Fresh Air, Rest and Nutritious Food Are 
Nature's Healing Agents 



SAVED FROM 
TUBERCULOSIS 



OR 



THE HAPPY SUNSHINE SCHOOL 



BY 



ELLA THOMPSON 



Principal of the first Special Fresh Air School for Tubercular Children in Indiana from 
October, 1914, to June, 1916. 



SUNSHINE, FRESH AIR, REST AND NUTRITIOUS 
FOOD ARE NATURE'S HEALING AGENTS 



MacDonald Bros., Publishers 
1920 



This book has been read and passed on by the Health Department 
of the United States Government at Washington, D. C, and also by Dr. J. N. 
Hurty, State Health Commissioner of Indiana. 






Copyright, 1920, including translation. 

ELLA THOMPSON, 

535 East Drive, Woodruff Place, 

Indianapolis, Ind. 



§)CLA604601 

DEC I8J920 
I 



TO 

ALL LOVERS OF THE OPEN AIR LIFE 

AND 

TO ALL TUBERCULAR PATIENTS EVERYWHERE 

THIS LITTLE BOOK 

IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 



INTRODUCTION 



The Out Door School has passed the experimental stage 
and we know It is not a "fleeting fad." It is here to stay on 
its merits. Among those who early saw and felt and thor- 
oughly believed in the virtue and potentialities of the Out 
Door School was Miss Ella Thompson. She entered the work 
with intelligent enthusiasm. Her yearly experiences in con- 
ducting her Out Door School have increased her enthusiasm 
and brought to her greater comprehension of the work, and 
also greater efficiency in it. 

Now, she offers to us this little book which I feel certain 
will be gratefully received. It opens with an interesting 
short story, which is followed by the school diary of a 
bright little pupil who feels, if she does not understand, the 
joy and refreshment to be secured from living in sunshine, 
from breathing plenty of pure air, eating plain food with a 
clean mouth and communing with nature. 

It is pleasant to read this little unpretentious book 
which so successfully presents the essence and spirit of the 
Out Door School. 

J. N. HURTY, M. D., 
State Health Commissioner of Indiana. 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 



Anna was in the kitchen getting supper. Mother was on the front porch 
entertaining a church caller. Father was in the garden hoeing the radishes. 

Cheerful voices sounded from the front porch. The clicking hoe had an 
industrious sound. Chirping birds gathered crumbs from the window sill. 
Old Tige, the cat, lay snoozing on the back porch and Anna'a dishes clat- 
tered musically as she walked briskly about the kitchen; while the fox 
terrier pup entertained himself by tearing up and down the yard. Alto- 
gether, there was a sweet home influence surrounding this pretty little 
cottage. 

Anna was fifteen and neat. Her kitchen was spotlessly clean. The 
blue and white linoleum seemed to match her big blue checked apron. A 
snowy cap kept stray curls from flying; but her pink cheeks blossomed out 
serenely. 

"I believe I shall have baked apples for supper," she thought to herself 
as she took down a dish of the rosy fruit from a shelf in the cupboard. 
"With my pot of baked beans and big dish of macaroni and cheese, baked 
apples will taste fine. Milk cocoa will be good, too." 

She washed the apples and was carefully liftiing out the cores with a 
shining knife when she heard a step on the porch and a cheery voice called, 
"Well, Anna, what are you going to have good for supper? I'm hungry." 
"Hungry?" inquired Anna. "That's not surprising. Whoever ucard of a 
boy who wasn't hungry? Yes, I am going to have a good supper. You 
better stay." "I believe I shall," answered Sam. "It smells good in here." 

He lifted his head high and sniffed the air appreciatingly. "Bet I can 
guess what you are going to have for supper." "Well, just guess, if guessing 
will satisfy your appetite," replied Anna. But about that time Sam spied 
the cooky jar and helped himself to a cooky for each hand, eating alter- 
nately from each. "Well, you take the cake," observed Anna as sue watched 
her serve-self visitor. 

She had finished coring her apples and had placed them in a pan with 
a little water. She put sugar and a lump of butter into each hole where 
the core had been. She pushed the pan into the oven and closed the door. 
Then she turned to see what jolly Sam was doing. He had finished his 
cookies and had become quiet. She thought he looked troubled, but she did 
not tell him so. 

Soon he began, "Anna, mother had a sad telephone call this afternoon. 
The doctor says that my cousin, Bertha, is about to go into tuberculosis. 
Do you know what that means?" "Do I know what that means?" exclaimed 
Anna. "Well, I think I surely do! Didn't the girl next door to us over on 
Bog street start to have that very same thing? Her folks were scared to 
pieces. Well, you ought to see her now. She is the biggest, fattest, roly- 
poliest girl you ever saw." "Well, what did she do?" breathlessly inquired 
Sam. 

"Why, she went to Fresh Air School. She learned to breathe deeply. 
At night she slept with her windows open. She drank plenty of milk." 

"Why, that is what the doctor said that Bertha must do — go to Fresh 
Air School; but she says she won't do it. She is afraid she will freeze to 
death." 

"Freeze? That makes me laugh," chuckled Anna. "That's the argu- 
ment they all put up. How can they freeze? They have great big woolly 
army blanket suits with hoods attached. They pull the suits on over their 
own clothes after they get to school. They have big felt boots that go on 
over their shoes. They have extra blankets to use if they need them. 

"Besides, if Bertha got so cold that exercise and deep breathing didn't 



6 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

warm her up, the teacher would let her go into a warm room for a little while. 
One room always has a hot fire on cold days, but the teacher prefers that 
the children warm up by hand clapping and bouncing up and down on 
their toes like rubber balls. They have many warming up games, too. 
Freeze! I have to laugh again when I think of it. What funny icicles these 
girls would be if they did freeze." 

"I wish you would talk to Bertha," said Sam. "Maybe you could coax 
her to go to the Fresh Air School. Talk to her mother, too, for she is as 
much against it as Bertha. Neither the doctor nor the nurse can make 
Bertha's mother see the need of Bertha going to a Fresh Air School." 

"Well," confided Anna, as she pulled her pan of juicy, sizzling apples out 
of the stove and turned it around, "the next time you go to your cousin's 
house I'll go with you and we will get Kate to go, too. Kate is the girl I 
was telling you about. Between us two we'll just talk a streak and before 
we leave we'll have Bertha so worked up about Fresh Air Schools that she 
can't wait to get started." 

"Let's go in the morning," proposed Sam. "Let's do," agreed Anna as 
she tripped lightly to the supper table and laid the knives and forks. 

Sam picked up his cap, saying: "Well, I must go home." Anna in- 
sisted that he stay for supper; but he thanked her and said, "Not tonight. 
Mother will expect me home." He tipped his cap and bade Anna "Goodbye." 

As he went through the garden, Anna's father gave him a whole armful 
of lettuce and onions. Sam made a picturesque figure as he passed through 
the gate — onions, lettuce and boy. He caught sight of Anna's checked 
apron in the door as she stood watching him. He waved his cap and then 
was lost to view behind the shrubbery. Anna pondered, "Dear me! I do 
hope I can coax his cousin to enter that school." 

She quickly finished her preparation of supper and called her mother 
and father. Her mother's visitor was gone. 

"How pretty the table looks!" her mother exclaimed. "Looks good 
enough to eat, and let's begin," said her father. Anna just beamed! To 
work hard and be appreciated are two of the best things in life even to a 
fifteen-year-old. 

A low, wide, mossy green jar massed with red clover blossoms that 
Sam had brought decorated the center of the table. The baked beans had 
reached the loveliest brown imaginable and the cheese in the macaroni 
looked like nuggets of gold. A marshmallow floated on each cup of cocoa. 
The apples tried to match the clover blossoms in color. A burst skin dis- 
played red pulp here and there and the pink juice at the base of each apple 
looked like melted clovers. Each ball of the luscious fruit rested peacefully 
in its little pink lake. 

All was quiet. The father returned thanks. Then they ate and chatted 
merrily. 

During the meal Anna mentioned Sam's sorrow and of her promise to 
visit Bertha. "I am glad to have you go," her mother said. "I hope you 
will convince the little girl that it is the very best thing in the world for 
her to do — to go to the Fresh Air School." 

Early the next morning Sam arrived, all spic and span. His hair was 
nicely combed, his clothes carefully brushed and his shoes well polished. 
He sat on a bench under a tree, and waited for Anna. She called to him, 
"I'll be ready in a moment. I have to brush my teeth first." "Take your 
time," Sam replied. "I am watching a little ant carry a big beetle to his 
nest." "Well, don't let him overexert himself," answered Anna. 

Soon Sam and Anna were wending their way toward Kate's house. 
Anna looked fresh and sweet in her crisp white middy. Her face was softly 
shaded by a plain broad brimmed hat. You could tell that she had had her 
morning bath because her hands and face had that fresh, clean look that 
makes you know the body is clean all over. She had a look about her that 
made you feel that she had an all over bath every day. 

As Sam and Anna walked along they talked of many things, for they 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 7 

had known each other a long time and had many common interests; but, 
most of. all, they talked about Bertha. 

When they reached Kate's home she was waiting for them on the porch. 
What a pretty spot of color she made against the gray paint of the house. 
She had on a pink gingham Norfolk suit and a black wide brimmed hat. 
She, too, had the look that she was fresh from her bath. And her finger 
nails, you couldn't help noticing how pretty they were. They were so clean 
they looked like little pink and white shells. 

The children started at once for Bertha's house. They hailed the first 
westbound car. Sam helped the girls on the car, swinging himself on 
lightly after. They seated themselves by open windows. 

It was a long ride. They passed many pleasant homes where clean, 
happy children were playing in the yards. They saw lovely-faced mothers 
pushing carts that held healthy babies. Once a playful dog rushed from 
the sidewalk and raced with the car. He barked wildly, running until he 
was tired. Sam tried to scare him away, fearing he might get hurt, but the 
dog only ran the faster. 

At one corner, an old lady boarded the car with a heavy market basket. 
The car was crowded so Sam gave the old lady his seat. She thanked him 
and her kind eyes showed that she meant what she said. 

They went through a long avenue of over-arching trees. Now and then 
a big branch slapped the car. Soon they merged into the business district, 
and passed through many squares of tall buildings, impatient autos and 
hurrying people. 

Beyond this, they again came into a district of homes; but how different 
from the homes they had left. Shabby houses, containing broken windows, 
some plastered over with paper, crumbling foundations, bare yards of sun- 
baked clay, yards grown tall with weeds, dirty, ragged children quarreling 
rather than playing with one another — these and many more unpleasant 
sights composed the scene. 

Tired, cross, flat-chested mothers called in rasping tones to children 
and beckoned in quick, nervous, angular movements. The scene was unin- 
viting, so the children found their pleasure within. Turning to Kate, Anna 
inquired, "Have you ever played 'Up in a Balloon?'" She described the 
game, and Sam, pressing the electric button, informed the girls that they 
had arrived at Bayou street, remarking also that no game equaled football. 
Sam stepped from the car first, just as a big boy should. Then he politely 
aided the girls in their descent from the car. 

They walked half a square up a side street and stopped in front of a 
little brown house that Sam said was Bertha's. Sam became most gay, 
turning a few hand springs that rolled him almost to the door, the girls softly 
laughing at his antics. 

At the door, they were met by Bertha's mother, a sad-faced woman. She 
bade them come in. In a gloomy corner sat a thin-faced, glassy-eyed little 
girl propped up among pillows. A woman, with tear-stained face, appar- 
ently Bertha's aunt, stood near a little table. Bertha's grandmother, sitting 
in a big rocking chair, held a patent medicine bottle in her hand and was 
reading the label. She cast a troubled glance at the children. 

Some of Bertha's soiled handkerchiefs lay carelessly on the floor where 
her tired little hands had dropped them. Her baby brother crawled about 
grabbing up a handkerchief in his fat little fist. The mother picked him up 
and wiped some soot from his cheek with the handkerchief, kissed the 
cheek, then pressed her lips long and lovingly on the pouting mouth. 

No sunshine entered the room. All the shades were drawn closely. 
The air smelled both dusty and mouldy. Apparently the dingy carpet had 
just been swept with a dry broom. 

All was gloom and despair. It was no place for our three healthy and 
well-meaning young friends who were so spirited before. 

Sam forgot to introduce the girls, but it mattered not, for Anna handed 
a package to Bertha's mother and said, "Here is a bottle of malted milk and 
a dozen fresh eggs that mother sent to Bertha." The mother thanked Anna 



$ SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

warmly and bade the children be seated; but Anna said, "Oh, please let us 
carry Bertha's chair into the yard under the trees. The air and sunshine 
feel so good." The mother protested. "Why, Bertha hasn't been out of the 
house for several weeks. We don't allow her out any more." 

Anna was not to be daunted; yet she did not wish to seem insistent. She 
explained, "You see, Mrs. Saxton, Kate's mother does not allow Kate to 
stay in a room where there is not a good circulation of air. Kate has to 
stay in the open air and sunshine as much as possible. We can only visit a 
short time, and if you will please let us carry Bertha out into the open, we 
shall carry her back when our visit is ended." 

Mrs. Saxton looked kindly at the beseeching girl, then turned to the 
grandmother. "What do you think about it, Grandma?" 

"Oh, I guess it won't hurt her if you wrap her up well," returned the 
grandmother. So, although the day was pleasant, Bertha was needlessly 
bundled into many covers — covers that had not felt new air or sunshine for 
many a day. 

Sam and Anna carried the chair into the yard, telling Bertha as they 
walked along that she was a rich Oriental lady with two attendants to carry 
her about. "Here, under this big, shady tree is a fine place," said Sam, and 
he and Anna gently placed Bertha's chair in a pleasant spot where the lights 
and shades flickered on the ground about her feet. 

Bertha's aunt and Sam carried out enough chairs for everybody. Then 
Sam perched himself on a low bough of the tree and leaned lazily back. 
"Makes me think of Penn's Treaty with the Indians," said Sam. "They all 
met under a big, spreading tree." 

"Well, we are not Indians," Kate reminded him. 

"No, you're squaws," laughed Sam. "I'm the big chief," and he broke 
off a small branch and decorated his head in the Indian's feather fashion. 

"Great things have taken place under big, spreading trees," continued 
the historian. "Remember the Washington Elm and the Charter Oak?" 

"Well, something will happen under this tree if you don't quit tickling 
the back of my neck with that switch," said Anna, as she reached back and 
grabbed Sam's switch unexpectedly, almost pulling him out of the tree. 

Historical talk came suddenly to an end. Bertha smiled a weak little 
smile at the children's gay talk. 

"Do you like pictures?" Kate asked Bertha. Kate had brought her 
steroscope. She held picture after picture before Bertha's eyes. They 
were pictures of life at the Fresh Air School. Most of them were in colors. 

One picture showed a quaint little red school house sitting in deep 
snow with lovely long icicles fringing its eaves, while happy hooded boys 
and girls studied lessons within the open room. 

A picture of the children scrubbing their teeth amused Bertha. The 
dinner hour in the dining room presented an appetizing picture. Twenty- 
five or thirty pictures were shown and each one reminded Kate of incidents 
which she told entertainingly. 

She was a regular little teacher and everyone was listening eagerly. 
Even Grandma put on her specs and peered earnestly at the picture of the 
boy who had gained nineteen pounds. "If only our little girl could do that," 
she remarked helplessly. "But she can," said Kate, "and I am going to 
show you how." 

Time passed rapidly. Sam looked at his watch and announced that it 
was time to leave. 

"Well," remarked Kate, as she wiped off her steroscope with a little 
alcohol, "that was the best school I ever attended. We had lots of fun and 
learned our lessons, too. I got fat and made two grades in one term. What 
more could you want? Our teacher was kind and granted us much freedom, 
but we never took advantage." 

"If you like to read, here is something in which you may be interested," 
and Kate took from her satchel a small booklet and handed it to Bertha. 
"It is yours to keep," she said. "It is just a little diary that I kept while 
.attending the Fresh Air School. Father helped me to write it at the close 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 9 

of each day. Since I have learned typewriting I have made it into a little 
book. Mother says that some day I may have it published, that all sick 
little boys and girls everywhere may read it and learn how to get well." 

They carried Bertha back into the house, and after promising to visit 
her again soon and tell her more of the strange school, they boarded a home 
bound car. 

On the car Anna said, "Poor girl! Do you think she will ever get well?" 

"Of course she will," stoutly proclaimed Kate. 

"Why," continued Anna, "she's nothing but bones. Her arms are 
smaller above the elbow than below." 

"That's nothing," argued Kate. "Mother said my ribs were a regular 
nutmeg grater and my backbone was like a picket fence. Do you see any 
bones about me now?" 

Anna confessed that none were visible. 

Many times during the summer the children visited Bertha. She was 
always eager to hear Kate tell more of the strange school. 

The whole family read the little diary. It had a magic effect. The home 
was changed. The dingy carpets were removed. The floors were kept 
nicely scrubbed, being made very pure with sal soda water. The windows 
were kept open night and day. The shades were drawn very high. Bright 
sunshine and fresh air flooded the little house. 

The people changed, too. Bertha's chair was always outdoors. There 
was always an outdoor spot for every kind of weather. On hot days, she 
was under the trees. On rainy days, she was on the porch. A chilly day 
found her directly in the sunshine. The sun went through her clothes, and 
she felt its pleasant warmth on her body. 

Bertha's lungs were filled again and again with good pure air. She 
drank bowls of good thick soup, piping hot, and sipped glasses of milk. 
Patent medicine was thrown away. Paper handkerchiefs were used and 
burned. 

A snowy cot that Sam and Anna had bought was on the porch where 
Bertha slept snugly each night, and rested frequently during the day when 
she was too tired to sit up. Everybody looked more hopeful and happy. 
Tears were dried and laughter took their place. 

Summer flitted by, caressingly nursing Bertha and gently but slowly 
wooing her back to health. Summer merged into golden autumn. One 
bright morning, a mischievous little breeze swayed a newly blown morning 
glory across Bertha's closed eyelids. She awoke. It was the first day of 
school and she was glad. 

With her mother's help, she prepared herself neatly for school. Her 
heart beat happily, and after her little breakfast of toast and milk and 
orange, she went to the strange and wonderful school, of which she had so 
often heard — the Fresh Air School. 

In due time she waxed fat and grew strong. 

Where are you going, my pretty maid? 

"I .am going to the Fresh Air School, sir," she said, 

Sir, she said. 
"I am going to the Fresh Air School, sir," she said. 

May I go with you, my pretty maid? 

"If the doctors will let you, sir," she said, 

Sir, she said. 
"If the doctors will let you, sir," she said. 

Who are the doctors, my pretty maid? 
"Dr. Clay and Dr. Cuer, sir," she said, 

Sir, she said. 
"Dr. Clay and Dr. Cuer, sir," she said. 



10 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 



What do you do at this strange school, my pretty maid? 

"Our lungs we fill with good pure air, 

Our stomachs we fill with a good bill of fare, 

Our heads we fill with good sound thought, 

Then we rest on our cots as long as we ought, 

As long as we ought. 
Then we rest as long as we ought." 

Then I'll go with you, my pretty maid, my pretty maid, 

I'll go with you, my pretty maid. 

"If the doctors will let you, sir," she said, 

Sir, she said. 
"If the doctors will let you, sir," she said. 



KATE'S DIARY 

October 12 — Today father took me to a wonderful school. It is the 
Open Air School for Tubercular Children and is the first and only one of 
the kind in the state. 

"We rode far across town and got off at a big iron gate. Its big stone 
posts were overgrown with Woodbine Ivy. Tiny clusters of the purple 
fruit peeped here and there from under scarlet leaves. Above were the 
words, "GateAvay to Opportunity." 

We followed neat cement walks nast tall brick buildings that father 
said were high schools. At the end of a long winding walk, made shady by 
tall, thick lilac bushes, we came to a little well-trodden dirt path that 
humbly wound its way up a slight incline to a low red frame building. Father 
said, "This is your new school." 

It was the opening day. Thin pale-faced boys and girls came from all 
parts of the city. They had been examined by two doctors — Dr. Clay, 
physical director in our city schools, and Dr. Cuer, president of the Marsh 
County Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. 

Newspaper men took our pictures and gave us a big writeup in the 
Altruistic Review. 

We expect many more pupils to come. We are going to receive all grades 
below high school. 

Our teacher is one of the regular grade teachers, and is hired and paid 
by the City School Board. 

I think I am going to like my new teacher because she seems kind. She 
took father and me through the building. We saw the nice big dining room 
with long tables covered with white oil cloth. 

Across the hall was a clean little kitchen. The great big rest room at 
the end of the building had its many windows staring wide open. The teacher 
told us that in this rest room we would open up our cots every day and 
rest an hour after the noon meal. 

The big school room is on the opposite end of the building. It has many 
big open windows on two sides. On the third side are very large double 
doors that stand wide open. Looking out you can see great stretches of 
beautiful wooded ground that contains many acres. 

Every pleasant day we are going to take walks, but our rambles will 
be short enough so we can get back to our building without being tired. 

A sad-faced lady came. She was dressed in black. She had a little 
thin-faced girl with her. The lady told the teacher that during the summer 
tuberculosis had taken away from her home, her husband and two grown 
daughters. She begged that the little girl she brought be saved and made 
to grow strong. 

That is one kind of child we are taking into our school, a child who 
comes from a tubercular home. We also take what is known as incipient 
cases of tuberculosis. Father says incipient means that the child is show- 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 11 

ing the first signs of going into tuberculosis.. We do not take cases of de- 
veloped tuberculosis, for that might endanger the rest of us. Children who 
already have tuberculosis would have to go to a sanatorium or a hospital. 
We want to save the children who are drifting into tuberculosis. 

Our school takes another kind of child. It is the 'anemic boy or girl. 
Father says an anemic child has very poor blood. Good food, rest and fresh 
air will make this child strong again. 

Father tells me that this school will bring me red cheeks and make 
me fat. 

The Marsh County Tuberculosis Society will pay for ovr food and buy 
our army blanket suits as well as our big felt boots, our cots and our 
blankets. It will even furnish street car tickets to the children who can not 
afford to buy their own. 

Father said this society is doing much good in the world. 

October 13 — We had our first lessons and took deep breathing exercises. 
At 10 o'clock we had a lunch of milk and graham crackers. At noon we ate 
our dinner. It seemed funny to eat in school. It was like a picnic. As we 
ate we could look out into the woods and see the squirrels frisking about. 

October 14 — It feels fine to drink in the sweet, pure air. We took a 
walk. We had much fun blowing on blades of grass held between our 
thumbs. The teacher encouraged us to do this, for, she said, it was a good 
breathing exercise. 

October 15 — The birds sing merrily about us as we work at our lessons. 
The leaves are turning. The beeches are yellow and brown. The maples 
are yellow and scarlet. We saw a butterfly drink water, unrolling his long 
black tube and thrusting it into a tiny silver dew-drop on the end of a 
plantain leaf. 

October 16. — Today ends our first week in our little fresh air school. 
It is a funny school. Every day seems a picnic, and yet we manage to get 
our lessons so easily. Our little apple pincushion swings prettily in the 
breeze as it hangs beneath the teacher's desk. 

October 19 — The whole 7B class says, "I done" instead of "I did." 
Beatrice and Agnes make up the whole class. The teacher says that 
Beatrice must watch Agnes, and Agnes must watch Beatrice. Today, I 
heard Agnes say, "I done my arithmetic." At once Beatrice said, "You should 
say, T did my arithmetic' " Agnes corrected herself and then replied, 
"Never mind, Beatrice, I'll catch you after a while;" but Beatrice said, 
"No, you won't, because I am going to be careful." 

I told father about the 7B class, and he just laughed. He said he 
wished he had a penny for every time he hears some one say "I done" in- 
stead of "I did." He would have so many pennies, he says, that at the end 
of a week he'd buy our school the finest dinner we ever sat down to. 

He told me if everybody in the English-speaking world had to pay a 
penny every time he said "done" for "did," there'd be a pile of pennies 
higher than the Statue of Liberty, and broader than Long Island, in less 
time than it takes to say "I did." Father thinks he'd like to be the treasurer. 
One day would make him wealthy. 

I asked him what he would do with all the money. He said, "I'd give 
most of it to the Marsh County Tuberculosis Society." 

Some one has said that with every breath we take some person dies of 
tuberculosis; but I say, with every breath we take somebody in the world 
says "I done" when he should say "I did." 

We are going to watch for the "I dones" that we hear. On the street 
car, at home, everywhere, we shall listen for that one big mistake and think 
very hard, "I did, He did, She did, They did." 

Most of all, we are going to watch ourselves, because the teacher is 
going to .keep count of the number of times we are corrected. 

She has made a record in the upper left hand corner of the blackboard. It 
is a little square bounded with heavy white lines. In it she will put a little 



12 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

mark every time she hears the .mistake for which we are watching. If we 
correct ourselves before any one else corrects us, the mistake shan't count. 
We are going to keep each day's record as low as possible. At the end of the 
week, we are going to see which day was best. 

Some children make a great pet of Mr. I Done, and he follows them 
everywhere. They can't get away from him. Other people never have any- 
thing to do with Mr. I Done, and he lets them alone completely. These are 
the children who will never have a mark in the square. 

October 20. — We found some late violets in front of our school house. 
A little scarlet spider crawled across our path today as we went walking. 
We stepped over him and he went on his way rejoicing. How he must have 
feared our elephantine tread when he heard us coming! How he labored up 
and down the little lumps of dirt and over the small twigs! Big things 
they were to him. How his little knees must have ached! We never kill 
a spider. He is our friend because he eats flies. 

October 21 — Two squirrels were scolding each other in deep monotones. 
The scolding voice has few rises and falls with great, long, incessant 
stretches of monotone. 

October 26 — A horse came walking up to the door of our house today. 
It seems that even horses recognize the barn-like qualities of our little red 
school house. 

October 28 — A squirrel dusted at the side of a tree. He scratched the 
dirt loose in a little hollow place in the ground. Then he rolled over in it 
and shook himself. 

We always cover our mouths when we cough. We often see big people 
on street cars who forget to do this. 

Our new paper handkerchiefs have black cats and pumpkins upon them. 
We burn our handkerchiefs as soon as we use them. 

Minnie and her mother live in a three-room house. The floors are all 
bare. They are kept well scrubbed. Minnie's mother likes to use sal soda 
in her scrub water. In front of Minnie's bed is a piece of clean rag carpet 
that is well washed every week in hot sal soda water and hung in the sun 
to dry. 

One little Piggy went to Fresh Air School. 

One little Piggy stayed home, 

The first little Piggy got pure air, 

The second little Piggy got none. 

The last little Piggy said, "Wee, wee, give me some." 



NOVEMBER 

November 6 — We wanted an onion to flavor our soup. We found none 
in our cupboard. Paul Barclay volunteered the information that he had an 
onion. With his mouth open and his pockets stretched wide, Paul began a 
search. He dug deeper and deeper. A look of doubt overspread his coun- 
tenance. His mouth closed, and began turning down at the corners. Finally 
he said, "I thought I had one," with great emphasis on "thought." Then, 
with a funny wiggle of the knees and a deeper plunge of the right hand, a 
pleased look came over his face as he announced, "Here it is," and from 
the subterranean depths of Paul's pocket issued forth — an onion. We 
treasured it, washed it, peeled it and sliced it into our soup. It was as fine 
an onion as ever rested on a neat cupboard shelf. Of the wonders of a boy's 
pocket we have often heard; but never before did we know that when our 
cupboard was bare we could go to that resourceful pocket and have our 
need supplied. 

November 9 — The leaves are falling in regular showers. Agnes and 
Beatrice make a pretty picture as they go to the grocery swinging their big 
basket between them, and kicking their fest through the brown leaves. We 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 13 

see them a long way off until they disappear around the corner of the 
brick house. 

November 12 — Squirrels scamper among the leaves. Familiar autumnal 
sounds of crackling branches and rustling leaves under the feet of passing 
pedestrians come to our ears. 

November 13 — We tried an experiment. Six children have never slept 
during the rest hour. The teacher prepared six little round sandwiches, 
made of bread, butter and chopped onions. She cut the bread into attractive 
circles by using the lid of a baking powder can. Each sleepless child was 
invited to partake. We retired directly to our cots. Magical onions! They 
worked like a charm. Five of the non-sleepers slept. One boy said that 
the onions kept him awake. Strange boy! Peculiar case! They seem to 
work two ways, like the man who could blow hot and cold. However, it 
was five to one in favor of the onions' quieting qualities. 

November 16 — Naomi Austin is in the hospital having her tonsils re- 
moved. We miss the sunshine that she radiates in our little school. When 
we waked from our afternoon nap today we stretched our bodies six times. 
We rested between the stretches. We twisted our bodies upon our cots, and 
acted much like babies just waking from their naps. How good each 
stretch and each twist felt. We yawned several times. That stretched our 
throat muscles. We resolved that we would stretch many times every day. 

Twelve stretches a day 
Most amply repay. 

November 17 — We took a lovely autumn walk today with Miss Jean 
Jacques, head of the department of botany and zoology in Central High 
School. She came at the close of our nap. Noses were counted before we 
started. We were told what to look for on our trip. 

Miss Jacques wanted to find out who would be sharp enough to see the 
first bird or bird's nest. We were to call out when we saw one. We were 
also to look for the last blooming wild flowers of the year. We searched 
both earth and sky. 

We saw many squirrels' nests in the trees before we saw a bird's nest. 
We carried away with us three birds' nests. Miss Jacques said it was not 
wrong to take down nests in the autumn, because the birds would build new 
nests in the spring. 

We found many weeds that had gone to seed. We found tall weeds, with 
large pods of seeds on the erect stems. Miss Jacques told us that they 
made fine feeding cups for the birds during the winter. 

We returned by way of Pussy Willow Run, and brought back small 
specimens of all the weeds, flowers and grasses we had studied. Miss 
Jacques had us recite the names of the specimens. 

When we had assembled in our school room again we gave our yell. 
Miss Jacques clapped her hands and said it was fine. We thanked her for 
our pleasant and instructive walk. 

November 19 — Our teacher has found that on cold days a cup of hot 
water with a little sugar warms us up nicely. She said, as she gave it to us, 
that it wasn't hard to take. We agree with her, for we all like hot sugar 
water. 

Singing in the open air is a fine breathing exercise. We have a splendid 
repertoire of songs, having selected favorite songs from each grade's work. 
We are quite fond of a little round that contains part of Benjamin Frank- 
lin's philosophy — "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, 
wealthy and wise." Our teacher lets the boys sing the word "boy" in place 
of man and the girls sing the word "girl." Some whistle the tune. 

When singing the "Gay Postillion" we keep time with the hands and 
feet. That gets up a good circulation, warming our hands and feet nicely. 
Sometimes we march while singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." 
We do very little marching or skipping, as these exercises are apt to de- 
crease our weight. We are in this school to get fat and stay fat. All our 



14 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

exercises are gentle, as Dr. Clay told us on the first day always to remember. 
In a regular school the exercises are mostly vigorous. 

Nettie's mamma puts a big heaping tablespoonful of bran in the middle of 
Nettie's oatmeal every morning. Nettie says it looks like a volcano. She 
sprinkles sugar over it and pours on the milk, saying, "Now it is Mt. 
Vesuvius in eruption." The milk is the lava flowing down the sides of the 
volcano and out into the valley. Then she takes her spoon and spreads out 
the bran to make the map of North America. The oatmeal and milk form 
the ocean. She has lots of fun, but her mother says, "Eat your breakfast, 
Nettie." Then Nettie stirs North America into the ocean and eats both land 
and sea. No castor oil for Nettie. Bran is better. 

November 20 — After school last evening, Dick Baker, 8B, and Egbert 
Dubois 3B, went to a moving picture show of submarine life. The teacher 
went with them They were introduced to another world, beautiful and 
mysterious. Mild, gently moving fishes and hideous sea monsters live ap- 
parently in perfect harmony in the ocean's depths. Great gardens of beau- 
tiful plants grow under the ocean. Queer fishes with wide mouths and 
horny bodies quietly swim in and out among the big water plants. Dick 
and Egbert saw many sharks swimming about. One picture showed the 
Maine as it lay on the ocean's bed. 

November 23 — The trees are almost bare. A few belated leaves now 
and then softly fall, turning over and over in their quiet descent. 

November 25 — Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day. Everybody will remember 
the poor tomorrow, even if they forget them during the rest of the year. 
One big day, at least, the poor will have. We played we were very poor 
and remembered ourselves. "We said, "Heaven helps him who helps himself." 

We treated ourselves pretty fine. We brought all kinds of nice things. 
Beatrice brought a nice yellow layer cake covered with white icing. Dick 
brought two cans of cherries. Naomi brought two glasses of jelly. Some 
brought apples. Everybody brought something, and together with our 
regular dinner we had a big feast. 

The teacher had asked our neighboring schools, the Robert Fulton 
School, the Phillips Brooks School, the Louisa Alcott School and the La- 
fayette School to send us a few glasses of jelly. The response was generous. 
We received almost fifty glasses. 

We arranged them neatly on our white oilcloth covered shelves in our 
pantry. Our eyes danced and our mouths watered as we looked at the beau- 
tiful glasses. We have visions of good little children receiving these self- 
same glasses of jelly from fond mothers, and carrying the fragile things to 
school. Now the glasses are safely deposited on our shelves, and the con- 
tents will some time in the near future enter into the composition of our 
bodies. Will we be jelly fishes? 

November 30 — We have learned six good poems to recite in concert 
They are well worth remembering, poems that should sink into our very 
souls. We can chant the Lord's Prayer. We can recite three psalms. 

We never leave out our morning exercises. They do for our souls what 
the deep breathing exercises do for our bodies. 

Emma burned her hand last Saturday. Her mother applied a solution 
of common baking soda. She dissolved as much baking soda as the water 
would take up. She wrapped Emma's hand in a nice clean cloth. 

I know a boy named Chester Brown, 

His windows are open the whole year round. 

DECEMBER 

December 1 — Happy Christmas month! The high school children, our 
near neighbors, have asked if they may give the Fresh Air children a sur- 
prise. We are the pets of the place. Everybody thinks we are the "cutest 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 15 

things" imaginable. We notice that people admire our army blanket suits — 
soft gray with wide black stripes and nicely pointed hoods. The girls wear 
trousers as well as the boys. We wear big brown felt boots right over our 
shoes. Thus, you see, most of us have a very substantial understanding. 
We look like Esquimos, and that is what we are often called. 

December 4 — During our breathing exercises today we took twenty big, 
deep, slow breaths. They make us feel like brand new boys and girls. We 
let the breath out slowly in the form of a whistle. Sometimes we say "Ah" 
when we let the breath out. We make the "Ah" as long as we can. 

Charles broke a scab from a sore on his upper lip. The teacher "doused" 
it with peroxide. It kept bleeding. She put on some "New Skin." The 
blood oozed through. Before she had a chance to apply other remedies. 
Charles ran his swift, moist tongue across the broken scab, leaving plenty 
of saliva. Strange to say it bled no more. The cure was within himself. 
The salt in the saliva probably stopped the flow of blood. Dr. Eatright told 
us the capillaries had become empty. 

December 7 — You ought to see Aaron, our smallest child, in his big felt 
boots. If he were an Indian he would be called "Little All Feet." Quite a 
job it is for him to get around. He has so much ballast. However, every- 
thing has a bright side, and Aaron is not at all easily upset. 

George is learning to drink milk. 

December 9 — Our menu today will make your mouth water just to read 
it. Bean soup, with butter crackers, roast beef, brown gravy, brown potatoes, 
strawberry jam, bread and butter and milk. You ought to see us eat. Our 
capacity is great. 

December 10 — We took seventy-five deep breaths today. Dick's mother 
brought Dick's baby brother to school. 

Bye, baby bunting, 
Daddy's gone a hunting 
To get a woolly coat 
To wrap the baby in. 

Bye, baby bunting, 

I see our daddy coming; 

He'll wrap the baby up 

And let his nose stick out. , 

Bye, baby bunting, 

Where is daddy going? 

He is taking baby out — 

He's the smartest daddy I got. 

December 11 — This is Friday. Looking at our breathing record, we find 
we have taken in 223 deep, slow breaths this week. You'd think we would 
be puffed up, but we are not. 

Ethel's neck is rounding out. The deep breathing is doing it. You can 
see the muscles swell out when she takes the whistling exercise. 

Nettie does a few of her exercises in front of her big mirror at home. 
She likes to watch her own muscles as they do the extra work she puts upon 
them. She said today that when she does her neck exercises she can feel her 
waist muscles move. She keeps her hands on her hips. 

December 14. Our yell has reached a high degree of art. We took it 
from Mr. Sherman C. Kingsley's book entitled "Open Air Crusader." 

"Who are we? Who are we? 
We don't drink coffee! 
We don't drink tea! 
We're for fresh air, 
Day and night. 
We're going to keep healthy 
i All right, all right!" 



16 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

It is amusing to see Dick direct the yell. He looks like a pasteboard 
manikin with some one vigorously jerking the string, but it is hard to tell 
who has the string to Dick. 

December 15 — Today, Mr. Wise talked on "Safety First." The teacher 
had read in the paper that he was giving helpful talks to other schooJs 
throughout the city, so as he is a neighbor of our little Fresh Air School, 
we were very anxious to hear his talk. 

He made us feel friendly towards him when he first came to our door 
and asked if we were the Fresh Air School for which he was looking. About 
the first thing he did was to draw on the board in big, beautifully shaded 
letters, "Safety First." 

The children were almost breathless while they admiringly watched 
him bring out the lights and shades, revealing a talent that they secretly 
envied. Then he talked. It was most certainly a heart-to-heart talk. He 
dwelt especially on getting on and off cars, reminding us to look carefully 
after stepping from a car to see that no car was coming from another 
direction. 

He told us of the danger of tying our sleds to automobiles or wagons. 
He told of the danger of skating while holding on to a street car or auto- 
mobile. "You may do these things with safety for a number of times, but 
you are always taking a chance," he said. 

He dwelt at length on "Taking a Chance," reciting an incident of 
his own boyhood. He told the children how they could help others to be 
careful. He said: "Put your arms around father's neck when he goes to 
work in the morning and say, 'Papa, do be careful today.' Then if father 
is tempted to take a chance during the day, the words will come back to 
him and keep him from harm." He summed up his talk by telling the chil- 
dren what "Never" to do. He preceded this part of his talk with a drawing. 
He deftly placed upon the board in large shaded letters the word "Never." 
The entire talk was given in a kind, sympathetic, fatherly way that appealed 
strongly to the children. 

"We thanked him heartily for his talk, but it is quite certain he can never 
know the real heartfelt thanks that we each had. A good talk is like a 
pebble dropped into the ocean. Its ripples go on forever. After he had 
concluded his talk he said: "Teacher, may I get warm before I go?" He 
was not dressed for an open air school and we appreciated his sacrifice. 

After he had gene the remarks about him were very free. Some said, 
"Isn't he a kind man?" Others said, "He looked like a good man." "Wasn't 
his voice kind?" "I wish I were as smart as he is." "You can tell by 
his eyes that he is good." 

December 15 — Those high school children make mysterious visits to our 
school, whispering grave secrets to our teacher. We sang "Father Christ- 
mas" today, keeping time by clapping our hands and tapping our feet. This 
warmed up our hands and feet and made us breathe deeply. 

Today we talked about how to wake up our bodies in the morning. 
James stretches nine times — once for every year of his age. His bedroom is 
full of fresh air because his windows are open. He takes ten deep breaths, 
after which he jumps out of bed and runs into a warm room, where he rubs 
his body all over with a rough Turkish towel. He makes his body look pink 
all over. He rubs his limbs upward. He rubs his ribs under his arms down- 
ward toward his waist. The rubbing makes his body very warm. He dresses 
quickly and runs to the kitchen. 

Suddenly he finds he has the biggest appetite anybody ever had. His 
mother's crisp bacon, frying in the skillet, smells so good he thinks he will 
surely starve if breakfast isn't ready soon. 

Laura Bell says she throws her arms above her head and stretches hard 
every morning. She says she feels sometimes as if her feet were going off 
in one direction and her hands in another. That causes a strong pull on 
the vital organs that are in the middle of her body. She says it makes her 




PHOTO BY BRETZMAN, OCT.. 1920 



RESULT OF SLEEPING OUT OF DOORS ALL WINTER 
AS WELL AS ALL SUMMER 




Here is Sadie brushing her teeth. It must be be- 
fore breakfast; for, you see, her hair is down. When 
Sadie is dressed for school, her hair is always in a 
pretty soft braid. 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 17 

feel good. It wakes her stomach and makes her want to eat. She also takes 
several long breaths before she gets up. Then, while she is still in bed she 
rubs her body with a coarse cloth. She dresses while in bed, because her 
house is very cold these winter mornings. 

Fritz has a nice warm room in which to dress. He takes a warm, wet 
cloth and washes his body all over, after which he rubs it very briskly 
with a dry Turkish towel. 

Lee rubs his body all over every morning with a large dry flesh brush. 
He says that it makes his body burn all over, and helps to keep him warm 
all day. He even brushes his feet, as if he were shining his shoes. 

December 17 — We wrote letters to Santa Claus. Do you wonder why? 
There is none. Nobody in this school believes, although the teacher did not 
tamper with our belief. It is our own natural conclusion, but we believe in 
the beautiful Christmas spirit. 

December 18 — We took seventy deep, slow breaths. We never let our 
shoulders rise while taking our breathing exercises. Sometimes we let the 
breath out slowly through the nostrils with a high, humming sound, some- 
times with a low, humming sound. That is fine for curing catarrh. 

Again we say "Oh" slowly deep down in our throats when we are letting 
the breath out. That strengthens our throat muscles. At times we pretend 
we are bumble bees and let the breath out with a big, buzzing noise. Often 
we are little bees and make the noise away up high in our heads. 

We are like big bumble bees when we make a very fierce buzzing sound 
down deep in our throats, throwing it out forcibly through the teeth. One 
of these noises Agnes can not do because of the shape of her upper teeth. 
They protrude somewhat. The dentist is going to draw them in for her. 

Ofttimes we raise our arms slowly when we inhale, and lower them 
slowly when we exhale. Our arms are a regular gauge. The teacher can 
tell by looking at our arms how much of the breath is gone. If we put our 
hands on our throats we can feel the muscles swell as we take in a deep 
breath. We can feel the vibration in our vocal chords and chests when we 
make noises while exhaling. 

Some people have a greater vibration than others. Dick and Eddie have 
the strongest vibration in the school so far as the teacher can find out. The 
teacher placed a sheet of tablet paper against each chest, and felt the vibra- 
tions through the paper. She took a fresh paper every time she touched a 
different chest. If she had not used fresh papers each time she might have 
carried germs from one child to another. 

We make many other kinds of noises while exhaling. Sometimes the 
teacher lets us choose our favorite noises. It sounds like New Year's Eve 
when we do this. It takes us about fifteen minutes to do our breathing ex- 
ercises well. We always feel rested when we get through. 

Some children have strength to take more deep breaths than others. 
When a child is tired after a few deep breaths he is told to drop out of the 
exercise for a while, beginning again with the school when he feels equal 
to the task. Such a child gradually finds that each day he can take a few 
more deep breaths. A fine feeling of exhilaration comes to him. Sometimes 
we have a child whom the nurse forbids to enter into the more strenuous 
breathing exercises at first. Such a child is also forbidden to add his voice 
to the joyous yell. 

December 21 — Glorious day! Santa arrived prematurely. He left a 
beautiful tree in our school room. It is such an immense tree it touches 
the ceiling and fills the corner of our room. It is full of silver and gold, red 
and green, pink and blue ornaments and many dazzling spangles. Mono- 
syllables of "Ohs" and "Ahs" were the chief expressions until Naomi came 
and danced all about, saying ecstatically, "Oh, that's the prettiest tree I ever 
did see." 

December 22 — Our tree bears full grown fruit over night. It is more 
beautiful today than yesterday. Mrs. David Rest sent us a beautiful bird 



18 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

table made by the Boys' Club. "We are sorry the ground is too much frozen 
to sink the post for the table. The high school children told us to bring 
nice, clean stockings tomorrow. 

December 23 — Two big baskets of good things to eat came from the 
Alcott School today. Two clean boys carried the baskets. They made us 
think of Miss Alcott's book called "Little Men." A lovely note came from 
the principal with beautiful cards for us all. The baskets held oranges and 
popcorn balls, bags of cookies and funny little bird-shaped cakes with raisin 
eyes, glasses of jelly and other good things. That is a good, kind school. 
We wish we could give them as merry a Christmas as they are giving us. 
We sent them our thanks and very best wishes. 

We had a jolly dinner. We walked our bird cakes around our plates. 
We went to bed early, having hung up our stockings around a beautiful brick 
fireplace which the high school girls made of red crepe paper marked with 
white chalk. It was like a real sure enough night before Christmas. 

We couldn't sleep. We heard automobiles drive up. Dr. Cuer peeped 
into our cot room. He had the Rev. Mr. Churchman with him. Newspaper 
men peeped in at us. Someone was all the time peeping at us, and we were 
peeping at them, but pretending to sleep. A photographer snapped our 
picture while we were sleeping. We knew everything that was going on. 
Wouldn't morning ever come? Finally a high school girl called us. We 
ran to our room. All our stockings were full, fairly bursting. The girl said 
we could eat our candy while she told us a Christmas story. 

Suddenly, who should come tramping through the snow, along the north 
side of our school house, jingling his bells and carrying his heavy pack upon 
his back, who but old Santa. He looked cheery and rosy as he jumped into 
our big open door. He said he hadn't forgotten us children in the cold 
woods. He had piles and piles of things for everybody. All the girls 
got lovely dolls — even the teacher — Santa gave her a doll, too — a little short, 
fat, brown-haired doll. 

Our letters were answered. Santa had really received them. The boys 
got all kinds of games and toys. We got books, too. Sadie had wished for a 
Bible, and Santa gave her the most beautiful red leather covered testament. 
Mrs. David Rest gave Santa some lovely little fruit cakes to give to us. 
The nurse had him give us some beautiful handkerchiefs. The teacher 
had Santa's wife make some bright colored cretonne pockets to tie on the 
backs of our chairs for holding our gloves and moccasins. 

We wondered if Santa would ever get through handing out gifts. 
With troubled face, Dr. Cuer stepped up to the teacher and said quietly, 
"Has anybody remembered the janitors? They ought not to be forgotten." 
Of course, the teacher had not forgotten these good people. Sure enough a 
nice box of candy passed from Santa's hand into the hands of Mr. Vonder 
Steinerhamerlandergot (we call him Mr. Von for short) and another was 
passed to Mrs. Brown. They are important people in this school. They 
sweep and wash dishes for us. Everybody was happy and everybody's desk 
was loaded. When Santa's pack was empty somebody jerked up our big 
tree and set it out of doors in the snow. The teacher tapped her big brass 
hand bell. We all became quiet while she told us to take up as many of 
our gifts as we could well carry, go out and surround the tree. We had our 
pictures taken. The next evening our pictures were in the paper, and we 
saw ourselves as "others see us." 

We have some children who say "I seen" instead of "I saw." It hurts 
our ears. Here is a good story that the teacher told us: 

Once there was a family by the name of Saw. Everybody called the 
father "Father Saw" and everyone called the mother "Mother Saw." They 
had a houseful of children. Jennie Saw, Tom Saw, Alice Saw, Jimmie Saw 
and many others. I really can't tell you all their names. There were so 
many. 

They lived in a very large sea shell by the side of the sea. The entrance 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 19 

was lined with pink. All the Saws were very happy, especially the little 
Saws. They had an uncle who lived with them. He was called Uncle Has 
Seen. 

One day Uncle Has Seen took Jennie Saw for a stroll along the shore. 
They gathered some pretty shells and were returning home when they met 
a queer looking little old man. He had a head like a grasshopper, hands 
like a duck's feet, and feet like a horse; but the funniest part about him 
was his tongue. It was so twisted that you could not tell just how it was 
meant to grow. The words came over it in funny little leaps. 

The queer little man seemed distressed. Uncle Has Seen asked him his 
name. "My name is John Seen," said the little old man in a trembling voice. 
"I thought I was related to Father Saw. I stopped at his home, but he says 
I am no relative of his." 

Jennie Saw slipped her hand into that of Uncle Has Seen. Their eyes 
met and there was a world of meaning in that look. Uncle Has Seen turned 
to the old man and said, confidently: "You are a relative of Father Saw, 
but you forgot to tell him your middle name." 

"It can not be that I have a middle name," sadly remarked the old man. 
"Sometimes I have another last name. People say, "John Seen Me or John 
Seen James; but I have no middle name. 

"Look!" said Uncle Has Seen. "Yonder is a whirlpool in the midst of 
calm waters. It is a magic pool. All who are dipped therein speak the 
most excellent English thereafter," and he pointed to a furious green and 
foaming pool not far distant. "Come," he said. "Step into this boat and I 
shall row you there and dip you into the magic waters. You shall never 
again forget your middle name." 

The old man stammered out his gratefulness. He stepped clumsily into 
the boat, his horse-like foot striking the side. Uncle Has Seen rowed 
swiftly to the pool. His boat stood spellbound along the side of the pool, as 
if held by a magnet. He took the little old man by the heel as Achilles' 
mother took her son. 

He dipped the queer old man three times into the magic pool. Each 
time the old man came up sputtering. Each time the crooks in his tongue 
grew less. The third time he came up with his tongue red and smooth as 
a tongue should be. 

And lo and behold! His grasshopper head was gone, his duck-feet hands 
had melted away, and his feet were like other people's feet. He was a man 
— a real man again and he talked like a man. He gasped, took a long breath 
and said, "Oh, Uncle Has Seen, I know now my middle name. I have seen 
it in letters of gold on the bottom of this pool. It glittered and blinked at 
me. As I watched it, it grew larger and larger until it almost covered the 
bottom of the pool. Then it rose as if to meet me. It is the most important 
part of my name. No one could recognize me without it. My name is John 
Has Seen." 

They returned to the home of Father Saw, who greeted his long lost 
relative warmly, taking him into his own home to dwell. 

"We have a dreadful epidemic in our school. The teacher is stamping it 
out. We call it "Adverbial Clause Periodica." We made up the last word 
so it will sound like some dreadful disease. Some of us have the habit of 
putting a period after an adverbial clause when it is placed at the beginning 
of a sentence. We say, "When Bob climbed the fence, period; when Sally 
washed the dishes, period; when Andy mended the wheelbarrow, period." 

Some of us just love periods and stick them in whenever we wish. The 
teacher says that if we paid a dollar apiece for periods we wouldn't use 
them so freely. 

She is carding our houses for "Adverbial Clause Periodica." If in 
going over our compositions she finds we have the dread disease, she lays 
a little card upon the desk with the words upon it: "Adverbial Clause 



20 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

Periodica." The card remains upon the desk until three consecutive com- 
positions are written without the mistake appearing. Then quarantine is 
lifted. 

If we have a second attack of the disease our quarantine is doubled, 
and we must have six consecutive composition days without this one par- 
ticular mistake. It is a disgrace to have our desks carded, and we en- 
deavor to have the card removed quickly. 

An adverbial clause at the beginning of a sentence doesn't tell any- 
thing. It only starts to tell something. The interesting part comes after- 
ward. Suppose some one should rush into our school room some morning 
and say, "When the doctor comes," then sit down in his seat and begin to 
study his spelling lesson. We'd all exclaim, "Well, what will happen when 
the doctor comes?" Some of us are entirely immune from this dreadful 
disease. . 

Mary, Mary, your school is cold and airy, 

How does your knowledge grow? 

With breathing deep and time to sleep 

The fresh blood races so. x 

Good things to eat and time to sleep, 

Deep breathing, too, makes Mary bright, 

So she easily does her problems right. 



JANUARY 

January 4 — Aaron likes red pepper tea. We have a sack full of the 
finest little Japanese red peppers. We pour hot water on the peppers and 
let them steep. Next we drain out the peppers and pour the tea into cups. 
We put in a little sugar. These little pepper Japs make the most beautiful 
cups of light pink tea. The tea has a growing demand. It warms us up on 
cold days. 

The teacher likes to give us pepper tea because it makes us "smart." 
She said she once knew a doctor who always swallowed a red pepper before 
he went hunting. He said that it kept him from catching cold while he was 
in the damp woods. 

January 6 — Paul Barclay said his nose hurt "away up in his head?" 
What a long nose! The teacher had him sit by the stove and snuff warm 
salt water. He had to stay out of the cold room for an hour and a half 
after snuffing the salt water. While his nasal cavity was wet with salt 
water he would catch cold easily in the open air. Paul said that he felt 
better. 

When the nurse came the teacher asked her if the method employed was 
right. The nurse answered that it was a fine thing to do. Salt is healing. 
She said if Paul would do this regularly for a few days, it might heal the 
nasal cavity entirely. 

We saved ten dollars above the restaurant price the first month we did 
our own cooking. We had much more food and it was more nutritious. We 
are economical cooks. We rinse the inside of our milk bottles with a tiny 
bit of water. We pour the rinsings into our soup. We rinse our vegetable 
and fruit cans in the same way, saving all nutritious substance. 

January 8 — We took 61 deep slow breaths to-day. We wouldn't miss our 
breathing exercises for anything. 

Some of us have learned to swallow half of a little Jap red pepper. We 
tear the pepper into very small pieces, and swallow it seed and all. We'll 
soon be growing some little pepper plants inside of us. In less than five 
minutes after a little dose of this kind, you warm up amazingly. It takes off 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 21 

those queer, cold, wet, creepy feelings that go up and down some people's 
backs. 

After you have swallowed a little Jap, you can withstand the coldest, 
rawest wind and never feel it. The little Jap makes a fine defense. 

Some prefer the little Jap made into tea. Some prefer him cut into 
little pieces and placed in a spoon. Herman sprinkled cayenne pepper in 
his shoes this morning before he came to school and his feet have stayed 
warm all day. Donald tried the same device, but he used too much pepper, 
so he danced hurriedly to the stove as soon as he arrived at school and took 
off his shoes. He shook out some of the pepper. 

January 11 — Paul continues his salt water treatment. Bessie and Be- 
atrice have joined him. All are improving. 

Our school is a regular country school — twelve grades. Our spelling 
lesson is one of the most interesting that we have. We are divided into 
four groups. We have begun with the lowest grade in the group, and aim 
to go through the highest grade. We have head and foot. Whoever is head 
one day is teacher the next. On certain days we use our books and study 
out loud. We spell the words on the books and then look away from the 
books and spell again. 

The teacher goes around to visit the different groups, teaching each 
group for a little while or discussing the meaning of some of the more 
difficult words. 

When the bell taps the lesson ends and we change to another subject. 
Sometimes we take our reading in much the same way. 

A new sick girl entered our school today. 

My health is broken down, 
What shall I do, my Lady Lee? 
My health is broken down, 
My dear Lady. 

How shall I build it up again? 
Think it o'er, my Lady Lee; 
How shall I build it up again, 
My dear Lady? 

Build it up, build it strong, 
Oh, my Lady Lee; 
Live outdoors all day long, 
My dear Lady. 

January 13 — We saw a strange bird clinging to a tree, and heard another 
calling loudly. 

Mark and Dick mended a tin bucket with solder. Dick says, "This 
school turns out everything, plumbers, firemen, cooks and other workmen." 
The boys put in a glass that the wind broke out. The boys take care of the 
fire. 

Naomi dressed by the hour glass. She likes to race with the little glass. 
It is a three-minute machine and Naomi can outrival it every time, dressing 
completely from head to boots while the sand swiftly falls. 

We saw a cardinal today. We fed the birds on our window sill. We 
saw squirrels chasing each other up and down the trees. 

We had an apple eating contest. It wasn't a contest to see how many 
apples we could eat. It was a contest to see who could eat the closest 
to the core and leave the least bit of pulp. It was hard to tell who won. 
No one had anything left but stem, blossom, seeds and seed cases. One, 
overzealous, ate part of the seed cases. 

The teacher feared that the hard sharp portion might prove injurious. 
Speaking to Dr. Eatright afterward, she received the answer, "No, that won't 
hurt anybody. In fact, we need a certain amount of refuse to maintain 
health." 



22 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

January 15 — Dorothea saw a woodpecker this morning. 

We had toasted marshmallows and cocoa for lunch. We toasted our 
marshmallows on sticks over the coals. 

Mark and Alfred saw two blue jays hovering around a squirrel. We saw 
a rabbit. A little bird with a speckled breast was also seen. A sparrow 
ate crumbs on our window sill today. 

January 18 — Some of our boys slept under snow. They didn't care a 
bit. The snow drifted upon their blankets. 

January 19 — The wind carried snow on to the girls today while they 
slept, but they were like the flowers, warm and snug under the snow. 

January 20 — A sparrow flew into our dining room today. He knew where 
he could pick up a good meal. We saw a red bird twice today. It came near 
our window. 

January 24 — Temperature 7 below zero. All the girls are here. Only 
two boys are absent. Who says that we are afraid of the cold weather? 

We breathe deeply many times while waiting for the street car these 
cold days. This keeps us from catching cold. We walk briskly back and 
forth, or dance lightly on our toes. 

January 25 — A friendly little puppy spent the day with us. 

January 26 — A sparrow flew through our school room. 

We saw squirrel tracks in the snow leading in four directions from a 
tree. The four paths were at right angles to each other, and .all led to a 
general thoroughfare, or man-made path, except one. This ended abruptly 
about twenty feet away from the tree, and in the form of a circle. Some of 
the children say the squirrel jumped into that place from another tree. 
Other children think the round spot is the place where the little fellow became 
discouraged and turned around to go back. The first reasoning is better, 
because there is only one set of little tracks, and they are very neat. 

We have other little tracks in the snow about our school house. Some 
of the tracks have three little toes in the front and one in the back. We 
know these belong to our little feathered friends. There are dog tracks, too. 
and boy and girl tracks, but the boy and girl tracks are generally in the 
path where they belong. 

January 27 — In a beech tree we saw two blue jays. They were chattering 
noisily together. We studied the squirrel tracks again. We think the round 
holes in the snow, at the end of the squirrel tracks, are places where the 
squirrels have been digging out their nuts. Over farther in the ground, 
Paul Barclay saw a squirrel take out a nut. Paul says that the squirrel, 
while digging, made the snow fly. Paul is a young naturalist. He always 
sees more than anybody else. 

Near our school house today we saw a rabbit's home in the brush pile. 

Daniel has stopped chewing tobacco. Today he showed a gain in 
weight. His failure to gain was a mystery to the teacher until she visited 
his home. There she found him in his natural habitat. A brown stream of 
tobacco juice flowed from the corner of his mouth. One cheek was enor- 
mously enlarged. Shame-faced he hung his head, when the teacher exclaimed, 
"Why, Daniel, I didn't know you chewed tobacco." 

The teacher told him how the nicotine, an awful poison in the tobacco, 
went all through his blood, poisoning his entire system. She told him that 
it was so very poisonous that if enough of the pure nicotine were put together 
into one tiny drop and placed on a dog's tongue, the dog would drop dead at 
once. 

Daniel listened. Then the teacher told him how impossible it was for 
him to gain weight when that poison was running through all parts of his 
body. She reminded him that all the other boys were gaining rapidly, and 
surely he would not want them to get ahead of him. 

At this juncture the mother spoke, "Oh," she said, "you can't ever break 
Daniel from chewing. He's had tobacco ever since he was in the cradle, 
and I've chewed all my life, too. 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 23 

Here were two against the teacher— one clearly outspoken, the other 
inwardy clinging to the love of his tobacco; but the teacher did not give up. 
She got Daniel's promise not to chew for three days. She told him that she 
could tell if he broke his promise, for she would look into his mouth every 
day. 

She reminded him that he could not clean his teeth so well but that 
the traces of tobacco could be seen. Daniel broke his promise before the 
three days had expired, but he was honest and acknowledged it to the teacher. 

The teacher liked that part of Daniel very much. He asked for another 
chance. He went through his next three days perfectly. After that he 
found it easier each day to do without tobacco, and now today he is very 
proud that he has gained in weight. 

He has gained in will power also, for it takes determination to break 
ourselves of any habit. The wrinkles are leaving his face, too, for, strange 
to say, Daniel's face was wrinkled and old looking like an old man. He had 
lines around his mouth like parentheses. You know those are the curves 
you put around an explanatory or qualifying clause, only Daniel never ex- 
plained. 

January 28 — Temperature, zero. The sharper the air, the sharper the 
wits. Essie and Bessie Sheats are lightning calculators in fractions. It 
must be "sheet lightning." 

Our hot cocoa for lunch was so good. 

A sparrow flew into our room today and lighted on Bessie's head while 
she was studying. How still Bessie must have been! But the little feet 
on Bessie's head frightened her and she gave a little scream. Mark caught 
the bird. Several of us held the little thing in our hands and loved it. 
Then we let it fly away. 

January 29 — Temperature, 3 degrees below zero. The boys carry water 
from the barracks many times a day. Alfred says that the janitor in that 
building wants us to wipe our feet on the "map." We are wondering what 
map it is — the map of Europe or the map of Asia? Alfred has concluded 
that the janitor must have said "mat." 

Beatrice has a sore throat. She did a very careless thing at home last 
night. After supper she took off her shoes and walked about the house all 
evening in her stocking feet. A cold wind blew under the door and chilled 
her feet. She forgot to rub her feet briskly and warm them before she went 
to bed. Her feet were cold all night. Today she gargles her throat with 
warm salt water. She could use, if she wished, vinegar and salt. One-half 
a teaspoonful of common baking soda in a third of a glass of warm water 
makes a good gargle (From Dr. King's book.) Sulphur stirred into milk 
is a healing gargle also. Vinegar and ginger make a good gargle. Beatrice 
will not be so careless again. 

Lee says that he always takes a hot brick to bed with him on cold 
nights, Fanny has a jug of hot water that sits up like a little stove under 
the bed clothes. It retains the heat a very long time. Charles Blair likes 
his railroad iron. He thinks it is pretty fine to walk his feet along a nice 
hot rail these bitter cold nights. 

The nurse says that we must never, never, never go to bed with cold feet. 

Today we talked about bathing. Ned says that he gets his mother's 
wash tub every Saturday night and puts it in the warm kitchen. He fills 
the tub about two-thirds full of warm water. Then he steps into it. In less 
than ten minutes he has washed his body all over. He dries himself with 
a clean, coarse towel. His flesh is red and tingling. He never feels chilly 
after his bath, because he rubs so briskly. 

Ned remembers what Dr. Cuer told us. The Doctor said that nobody 
could really be clean, or keep his skin in a healthy condition, unless he took 
at least one or two real baths a week. He said that even in the winter time, 
when we think that we do not perspire, the millions of pores all over our 
bodies are all the time throwing out poisons. We must wash off the poisons 
frequently. Dr. Cuer likes clean boys and girls. Our nurse says that there 
isn't anything she likes better to do than to get hold of dirty boys and girls 
and clean them up. 



24 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 



Little Jack Horner 
Sat in a corner 
Breathing foul air 
Till almost a "gonner." 
He almost did succumb 
And was feeling quite dumb 
When a window he espied 
Right by his side. 
He took a big stick 
And pushed it up quick. 
O my! What a relief! 
He took up his pudding 
And how he did eat. 



FEBRUARY 

February 3 — Temperature, 28 degrees. Today two little squirrels came 
to our door and ate lunch with us. We threw them crackers. The little 
fellows carried the crackers up into a tree near by, looking down upon 
us while they ate. Herbert says that he was never so near a squirrel before. 
They came within a foot of our threshhold. 

February 4 — Scene: Dining room. Boy: I ain't got no spoon. 
Waitress : Say that right and I shall give you a spoon. Boy : I haven't any 
spoon. 

We saw our red bird again. We also saw a woodpecker. On our black- 
board is written: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Dr. Clay said: 
"That would keep me coming." 

February 8 — We heard a crow calling. We found a snake skin in front 
of our house. 

February 9 — We heard a squirrel barking at a cat it saw at the foot of a 
tree. 

Pussy cat, pussy cat, 
Where have you been? 
I've been to London 
To visit the queen, 
Pussy cat, pussy cat, 
What did you there? 
I told her to breathe 
Good pure air. 

Bessie saw a big black crow sitting high up in a tree. 

February 10 — Alfred, Mark and Herbert raked our front yard. Charlie 
Blair heard the echo of our yell as he was returning from the janitor's 
building. This was a fine day for sleeping. Almost everybody slept during 
our rest period. 

February 11 — Today, leaves came sailing into our room. Some of us 
stepped out of the windows and tried stealthily to slip up to a red bird 
that had gone into a brush heap. We got full of burrs. We were much 
"stuck up." We found it harder to get back into the windows than to get 
out. Several people pulled the teacher through. 

We saw a woodpecker tapping on a stalk. Afterward Paul went to get 
the stalk. It was full of holes. Paul said there must have been bugs in the 
stalk. He always studies to find out the reason for everything. 

February 18 — Our dinner was unusually good today. The teacher walks 
about the dining room many times during the dinner hour. The nurse 
wonders how the teacher ever gets anything to eat herself. Sometimes the 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 25 

nurse makes the teacher sit down and eat; but as the nurse is not at the 
school every day, the teacher walks about as she wishes. 

She looks at our plates. She coaxes us to taste all the food on the table. 
She wants us to eat heartily. She lets us laugh and talk while we eat. 
Joyousness at a meal aids digestion. She does not let us waste our food. 
An empty plate at the close of the meal is our rule. 

If we take more butter than we can eat, it is set away for us. It is put 
upon a clean dish. A clean paper with the name upon it is put on the dish. 
The butter comes back to its owner the next day. 

If we leave part of a glass of milk it is marked. We drink it later in 
the afternoon. We brush up our crumbs, giving them to the birds and 
squirrels. We remember Maria Edgeworth's story, "Waste Not, Want Not." 

We slept out of doors under the sky. 

February 19 — We saw two little sparrows eating grass in front of our 
house. We slept out of doors in the sun again today. We felt the warmth 
of the sun upon our bodies. 

We have many visitors every day. Today a visitor asked if we stay all 
night at our school. We wish we did. 

February 23 — We saw our first robin and heard it sing. We swatted 
two flies in our school room. We must put in our screens. Amos saw a live 
snake. Amos is somewhat of a naturalist, too — ever observing. 

February 26 — We took a walk. We saw violets coming up. After dinner 
we took our usual nap, one hour long. 

There was a teacher 

Who had a fresh-air school. 
It made no difference 

If it did turn cool. 

She gave them a dinner 

With twelve loaves of bread, 
Then she quieted them down 

And tucked them in bed. 



MARCH 
March 1 — A little sparrow dusted in the roadway. 

March 5 — For morning exercises we discussed a quotation from Tenny- 
son, "Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, these three alone lead 
life to sovereign power." 

Before school this morning, we bleached our finger nails with bits of 
lemon peel. Stella brought some lemon peelings that she had left over from 
lemonade at supper last evening. There was still a tiny bit of juice in 
them. We cut them up into little chunks. We passed them around on 
small pieces of white paper, shaped up at the sides like little dishes. 

After we had scrubbed our hands very clean with good hot water and 
soap, we used our files and little sticks, taking out every little bit of dirt 
from under our nails. We rubbed our nails underneath, and all over with 
the bits of lemon. Then we scrubbed our hands again. How white and 
clean our nails looked. 

Alice says that she will save some tomato peelings this evening and 
bring them tomorrow. The acid in them is a bleach. 

When Mollie washed her mother's oatmeal crock Saturday morning, she 
found her hands and nails afterward to be very white. The remnants of 
the cooked oatmeal did it. 



26 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

Pretty hands can be "useful as well as ornamental." We are happier 
when we look down on pretty clean hands while we work. 

March 8 — Some little sparrows washed themselves in a little mud puddle 
in the roadway not far from our house. How they fluttered and sputtered! 
They seemed very happy. They are not at all particular. The other day they 
had a dry shampoo and now a little muddy water suffices. We'll give 
them a pan of clean water if they will only speak up. 

March 11 — Two robins ate worms near our school house. Four sparrows 
dusted in the roadway. 

We have on our blackboard today from the Bible: "A merry heart 
doeth good like a medicine." Is that really true? We mustn't disbelieve 
the Bible, but I wonder if Bessie and Eddie have their merry hearts in 
bottled form. They have bottles of medicine from the dispensary out in 
the Supply Room. We see them go out with a spoon, and return wiping 
their mouths and hiding wry faces behind their hands. 

March 15 — Our breathing exercises make us feel fine. Samuel Smiles 
says, "A healthy breathing apparatus is as indispensable to the successful 
lawyer or politician as a well-cultivated intellect." It makes children 
succeed in their lessons, too. 

March 17 — This is St. Patrick's day, and so we have the same old an- 
nual question, "Do we get out today?" Poor old St. Patrick, though a saint, 
was never so good as George Washington, for St. Patrick was never known 
to give little children a holiday. And this is the day to plant sweet peas; but 
where are the sweet peas to plant? 

While the girls got dinner, the boys played back of the house. Some 
made fine big wigwams. Others dug tunnels. Egbert made a little rail- 
road and put telephone poles and wires along the side. The boys found 
some beautiful clay. They made marbles and baked them in the fire while 
we were eating dinner. They looked like real marbles when taken out of 
the coals. The boys used them in their marble game. 

The home-made marbles bumped up against the store marbles with 
as much assurance, independence and hardihood as if they had lived all 
their lives in a store waiting for a nice little boy to come along and buy 
them. They seemed never to lament their lack of adornment and rolled 
as smoothly as if richly adorned. 

One of the boys penned some ink stripes around his marbles, and another 
used a little red water color. The decorated marbles were short lived. They 
pined away and crumbled apart. "Pride goeth before a fall." Adornment 
was not meant for them. Moral: If you are born plain, you must remain 
plain. The unadorned had greater longevity. 

March 18 — We had vegetable soup with butter crackers, beef stew 
with potatoes, juicy prunes, bread and butter and milk. We might glean a 
maxim from our bill of fare. Three prunes a day keep laxative pills at bay. 

Little Miss Muffet 
Sat on a tuffet, 

Eating a dish of prunes today; 
Along came a spider 
And sat down beside her, 

Chasing Miss Muffet with her prunes away. 

March 22 — This is one of our Red Letter Days. Everybody is present. 
March 23 — We saw a real blue bird, like the one on our bird chart. 

March 24 — Beatrice says she has a more industrious feeling in an open 
air school. She says lazy feelings used to come over her in the other 
schools. She could not shake them off. 

While getting dinner, Herbert and Mark decided to find out why some 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 27 

beans go to the bottom of the water and others do not. Mark said that 
some of the beans have air under their skins. This makes them float. 

March 25 — Today is another Red Letter Day. Not one Esquimo is absent, 
though we come from the four corners of the earth. Prof. Gardner 
showed us today the first spring flower — pepper and salt. Jack Robinson 
ate eight slices of bread and butter for dinner. He said, "Please don't put 
that in the journal." What a traitor the writer is, but she made no promise 
not to tell. 

Old King Cole 

Was a merry old soul, 

And a merry old soul was he; 

He called for his bread, 

And he called for his soup bowls 

One-two-three. 

Old King Cole 

Was a merry old soul, 

And a merry old soul was he; 

He slept all night, 

And he laughed all day; 

He lived a long life, 

Because he lived that way. 

March 26 — Sadie, Naomi, Egbert, Paul Joyce and Aaron raked and 
cleared the garden spot. The rest of us took a walk. We saw Spring 
Beauties in bud. We saw strange wild flowers beginning to grow. A blue- 
bird flew from tree to tree. He looked like a blue streak. 

The boys rolled down a gently sloping hill, clutching grass as they 
rolled. It was great fun for those who watched as well as for the boys. 
Then we returned to the building. 

Dick Baker made the cocoa today, so we had Baker's Cocoa. 

March 27 — Mr. Holly, superintendent, and Mr. Chaneller, assistant super- 
intendent, visited us. They come sometimes. They like us. 

We had just finished lunch. The children had carried the cups and 
spoons into the kitchen, and were cleaning crumbs from the desks. The 
boys had resumed their laundry work near the stove, washing their wash 
rags in hot sal soda water. 

Other boys were getting dinner, cleaning beans, peeling potatoes 
and putting on meat. Mr. Holly thought he observed symptoms in Mr. 
Chaneller that indicated a desire to stay for dinner. Mr. Holly discouraged 
this by saying that he overheard a boy say that dinner would not be ready 
for some time. 

Mr. Holly remarked that he thought Mr. Chaneller looked anemic, and 
ought to be in a Fresh Air School. (Mr. Chaneller is of a heavy build and 
the picture of health.) The superintendent looked at our back yard. He 
said the nurse had asked him to have it cleaned up, but he thought the 
work would not be too strenuous for some of our boys. 

We shall begin at once. The nurse does not want us to work too hard. 
It will cut our weight. That is why she asked the superintendent to have 
this done. We have to move some stumps and big stones and brush that 
were here before we came, but we like our superintendent and we shall do 
as he says. We shall also obey our nurse and work slowly, resting frequently. 

After school, Agnes raked the yard back of the house. Dorothea picked 
up the big sticks and branches. Eddie, Paul Barclay, Charlie and Egbert 
rolled the rotten logs away. They found snails, thousand legged worms 
and many strange bugs. It was sad to disturb so many homes. The little 
creatures must have thought a great earthquake had taken place. We 
found an ant's nest in a log. We found white grub worms, too. We put 
them on our bird table. After we left our work, birds flew down and 



28 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

feasted on the bugs and worms that were running helter skelter in the 
spots where the logs had been. 

Herbert cooked too many beans. We gave the left-over supply- 
to Alfred to take home for supper. We heard a strange bird calling. Jack 
Robinson said it sounded like a young turkey. Naomi saw two robins. 

We have fourteen boys and eight girls. We have as many boys in our 
school as most of the regular schools have. 

A four-legged bird with fur on its back and a big bushy tail eats lunch 
on our bird table every day, at ten o'clock and at two o'clock. 

March 31 — Menu: Tomato soup and butter crackers, sausage and milk 
gravy, potatoes with the jackets on, bread and butter and milk. Paul and 
Nahum Prince fried the sausage. They made the sausage into cakes and 
floured them. Nahum said it made him think of the mud pies he has made. 
Paul made the milk gravy. Herbert made the soup. Mark cleaned and put 
the potatoes on. Dorothea and Bessie set the table. Alfred ate six cakes 
of sausage. 

Alfred, Eddie, Daniel, Charlie and Herbert can imitate bird calls. They 
gave us a bird concert today. Charlie can imitate the canary, meadow lark 
and quail. This is a good breathing exercise. 

APRIL 

April 1 — This is April Fool Day. We had a little celebration in honor 
of the day. Before anybody else arrived, Dick made some very skilful 
imitations of cracked window glasses by pasting twine with moist flour 
in an irregular outline upon the window panes. Jack Robinson can imi- 
tate a young turkey. 

Dick, Alfred, Mark, Beatrice, Bessie and Paul Joyce have been mend- 
ing cots with canvas. They tack the canvas along the edge of the cot, then 
turn in the raw edges of the canvas and sew down with a back hand stitch. 
Next they quilt it all over to make it strong. This is new work for the boys. 

Jack Robinson and Charlie Blair prepared the dessert today — bananas 
and Post Toasties. They used a dozen bananas for twenty-one dishes. First 
they put a half of a banana into each dish. They had three half bananas 
left. They sliced them and divided them evenly among the dishes, 3/2 -3- 21 = 
3/2 X 1/21 = 1/14 of a whole banana to each dish (extra). This was a fine 
little fraction problem for these fifth grade boys. 

Dorothea has learned to imitate a strange bird she hears calling every 
day. She wants to know what kind of a bird it is. We are going to find out. 

This was a fine day for sleeping. Almost every one slept during the 
rest hour. 

Today we saw heat rising from the ground. 

April 2 — Naomi, a 4B, gave out spelling to Sadie, a 7B. 

Paul sewed three buttons onto his waist after he finished his lessons. 

Beatrice and Agnes took their 7A arithmetic test and passed. Each 
stood 87%%. Each missed only one problem, but not the same problem. 
They are in 8B arithmetic now. 



April 5 to April 12 — Spring vacation. 



April 12 — We had Yellow Root blossoms on all the tables in our dining 
room today. 

Mr. Dally says that a red bird was in our house in vacation. 

Two robins have been pulling worms out of the ground all morning. 
It is interesting to see them choke down the worms, and then hunt for more. 

We saw a little sparrow dusting in the road in front of our school house. 

Somebody told us today that we are very clean cooks. Well, we try 
to be. Everybody wears caps and aprons. The girls fasten their hair up 
under their caps. While preparing dinner we turn our heads away from 
the food when we talk. Some people have accidents with the saliva while 
talking and this is why the teacher has made this a very strict rule. 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 29 

Every cook runs to the wash room before beginning the dinner and 
scrubs the hands very, very clean. If any one touches the face or hair 
after the process of cooking occupies his attention, he has to wash again. 
If a nose itches, it is agreeably relieved by scratching, but the little cook 
must hurry to the wash room to wash his hands again. 

The same thing occurs if we have to scratch our heads. We scratch 
and then wash, wash, wash. But, Oh my! If the nurse would see us with 
our fingers in our hair very often, we would be invited into her little room, 
where with two long thin sticks she would turn over every hair on our 
heads. She'd "make your hair stand up." 

Do you know why? Once the teacher found a boy with more on the 
outside of his head than on the inside, and she referred him to the nurse. 
After an examination, the nurse ordered him to go home and saturate his 
hair with coal oil. After a night of odorous sleep he was allowed to wash 
his hair and return to school again. 

April 13 — We have Spring Beauties on all our dining room tables. 
The plant called "Pepper and Salt" is in bloom. We saw a brown thrush, 
blackbird and blue jay. A sparrow ate off our bird table. 

We used our new tooth brushes today. We used salt. We placed a 
small quantity in the palm of our hands; next we dampened our tooth 
brushes; we dipped the damp brush into the salt and applied it directly 
to the teeth. Some people think salt will scratch the teeth. It can not; 
it melts. We run a white thread between our teeth. 

Sometimes we take a little soft rag, dip it in peroxide of hydrogen, then 
dip the rag into soft dental chalk. With this we scrub each tooth, rubbing 
down on the upper teeth and rubbing upward on all the lower teeth. They 
become very white. 

We rinse our mouths with peroxide, too. How we foam! That is 
better than to fume. 

On the blackboard is the statement, "We have washed our teeth today." 
We sign our names to it every day after we have washed our teeth. 

We have the pictures of five beautiful children tacked above the black- 
board in the front of the room. On the blackboard is written, "There is 
no beauty without health." Everybody is going to try to be as beautiful 
as these children. There is so much goodness in each face. 

Every child is so clean, too. The necks are so well curved. The 
chests are high as if the children breathed deeply. Their eyes are bright. 
The mouths are pleasant. The cheeks are pink. We are going to grow more 
like these children every day. 

Bessie brought a field glass today. We can bring distant birds to 
closer view. She says that we may keep it a week. 

Eddie traded work with Charlie and cleaned up the kitchen. He did 
his new work fine. Sometimes a new job gives a new inspiration. 

Sparrows have built many nests under the eaves. 

We slept out of doors today. It is fine to lie upon one's cot and see the 
delicate branches of the beeches outlined against the blue sky, and note the 
silvery buds bursting from their long winter sleep, or watch the gentle sway- 
ing of the branches in the breeze, and be lulled into sleep by the gentle 
voices of far away birds. Oh, who wouldn't be a poet or an artist under such 
conditions. We can understand the poet when he says, "Oh, who will come 
and lie with me under the greenwood tree?" 

We saw two rabbits today. One of them looked very funny as he went 
bounding across the grass, his little body outlined against the afternoon 
sun, his big ears laid flat upon his back. He seemed to be in quite a 
hurry. He was surely "Exceeding the speed limit." We hope he arrived 
at his destination in time, for he seemed so anxious. 

April 14 — Hurrah! We have a boarder! Yes, a real, "sure enough" 
boarder! It is the stenographer at the shop. Mr. Bird recommended our 
place to her. He praised our cleanliness in the preparation of our food, 



30 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

and also the nutritious quality it possesses. She is highly pleased. The 
children call our dining room "Thompson's Dairy Lunch." 

Several blackbirds came to our bird table today. The iridescent colors 
on the neck shone brightly in the sun. 

April 15 — Eddie brought a big bunch of daffodils to school. His father 
got them in the country. 

We are sleepy today. We attended a recital last night. Only two chil- 
dren failed to go. The concert was given by Miss Helen Warbler, the singer, 
for the benefit of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society. 

We sat in the front part of Canterbury Hall and our seats were roped 
in. Miss Warbler smiled at our little school many times while she was 
singing. 

We heard a woman say at the concert, while referring to Miss 
Warbler, "Just see! She breathes with her diagram." Poor Miss Warbler! 
We feel sorry for her if she has to breathe with a diagram. We put our 
diagrams in the blackboard. Then we are through with them. 

We wonder where Miss Warbler puts her diagram while she breathes. 
The woman meant diaphragm, that strong arched muscle that moves up 
and down when we breathe properly. We have more trouble with our 
diagrams than our diaphragms; but the woman to whom we refer evidently 
has trouble with both. We wonder if she would call grammar — frammer, 
and farmer — garmer. We didn't discuss this in class. These are just 
little thoughts that came on the inside of our heads and stayed on the 
inside. It is polite to keep still sometimes. 

We would like to spread our cots this morning because we are sleepy. 

The boys uncovered a den of snakes in front of our house. They 
caught eight, two large and six small ones. It looked funny to see eight 
of our boys standing in a row, each holding a snake by the tail. No 
poisonous snakes are on this ground, Miss Jacques, who is a specialist 
and a prominent teacher of nature study, has assured us. Were it not 
for our faith in this reliable authority we would never touch the snakes. 
The teacher has learned to touch the cold, smooth skin without fear. We 
have learned that the snakes are valuable. They eat insects that destroy 
our plants. We wash our hands after handling the snakes. 

We had bouquets of Spring Beauties on our dining room tables. 

Aaron, Amos, Paul and Charlie got dinner today. Aaron, 2A, our 
youngest child, helped peel and slice the potatoes. He set one of the 
tables. He asked us how it looked. It looked fine. 

The boys, as well as the girls, wear caps and aprons when they cook. 
James is a laughable sight in his kitchen apron. He is so little and the 
apron is so big. It is folded up in front and pinned to his sides. It makes 
a beautiful, long blue trail back of him. People walking behind him have 
great respect for this trail. 

A soup bowl procession is naturally slow if James is at the head. 
Today, a boy behind him with a bowl of soup, stepped upon the trail, became 
entangled, pressure was removed from the trail. James, all unconscious 
buttons loosened their hold and James advanced steadily. As the apron 
slipped from his shoulders, and the entangled boy in the rear became dis- 
entangled, pressure was removed from the trail, and James, all unconscious 
of the fate of his trail, delivered his soup to its proper table in safety, just 
as he himself became entangled in the extra front length that had slipped 
to the floor. 

We saw a woodpecker tapping on a tree, getting bugs. 

The sun was too hot for us to sleep in front of our house. We took 
our cots to the shade back of the house. 

High school pupils are hunting snakes. 

April 16 — Beatrice met with misfortune and got in twenty minutes of 
ten. We sang to her, "A diller, a dollar, a ten o'clock scholar," improvising 
our music to suit the words of Mother Goose. 

A fat little squirrel sat in the fork of a tree watching us take our 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 31 

breathing exercises. He thought we made funny noises. Once he leaned 
forward to listen, it seemed. After a while he went over to a stump to 
dig out a nut. 

Two woodpeckers clung to the sides of two different trees for fully half 
an hour. 

Eddie saw the first butterfly of the year today. He pointed it out to 
the teacher while the other children were sleeping. 

We slept in our stocking feet today. It felt fine. 

We heard the birds singing all around us. Two strange birds were 
calling to each other — one toward the east and one toward the west. They 
generally were polite and waiting for each to finish. 

At the noon hour Dick filled a ten-pound cracker sack with wind. He 
tried several times before success came. He is developing a big chest. 

We find that the woodpeckers work hard for a living, tearing off bits 
of bark and pulling out bugs snugly hidden away. The squirrels work 
hard for their living, too. We have learned that every living creature has 
to earn its living, apparently happy while doing it. 
"" Agnes found the first blue violet of the season today. 

April 19 — Sadness prevails at the little Fresh Air School. A red bird 
started to build its nest in our cot room. "It worked all day Sunday, whist- 
ling gaily," Mr. Dally said. We found the nest today, partly built, but the 
little bird will never finish it. We found the pretty feathers and a wing in 
one of our little rooms. 

A fierco old cat was crouching in the corner. Circumstantial evidence 
was so strong that we feel sure we can picture the awful tragedy. 

The milk man was very late, so we took a little walk while waiting for 
him. We found the ground under the beeches white with Spring Beauties. 
We found the first Yellow Violet. We met a little brown beetle on the road. 
We returned, ate our lunch of milk and wafers; then wrote letters of thanks 
to Mrs. Alma Love for the tickets to the Helen Warbler recital. 

April 21 — We found more snakes. Every day we find several. The High 
School children spend all their spare time hunting for snakes. So do the 
Fresh Air children. We saw a rabbit. He touched the ground about every 
twelve feet. If a boy were to race with a rabbit, I wonder who could run the 
faster. 

It was too warm today to fire up our coal stove, so we had a cold dinner. 
Alfred said that the only hot things we had for dinner were the onions. 

We saw a Flicker and heard a Catbird. 

April 22 — The boys spaded up a lettuce bed and a robin pulled up our 
strings. He carried them away to make his nest. 

The colored woman didn't come to wash our dishes, so Dick, Alfred and 
Mark volunteered to wash them. Alfred said he did the dishes so he could 
get out of arithmetic. He had his reward. 

Mrs. David Rest brought us two pretty red geraniums. She also 
brought buns and peanut butter. She thought of our garden, so she brought 
a bag of onion sets. 

Her sister, Mrs. Charity Cotton, brought a lovely basket of big rosy 
apples. 

April 27 — Radishes and lettuce are up. We saw white clouds sailing 
across the northern sky while we were eating dinner. Dick said one of 
them looked like Hudson Bay. Then it changed and Jack said it looked like 
North America. Someone else saw Italy floating in the heavens. 

April 28 — We cleaned away leaves and rubbish from under the trees 
of our good weather bedrooms. 

April 29 — We had distinguished company. Dr. Eatright, State Health 
Commissioner, Dr. Van Dyke, State Chemist, Mr. Archer and Miss Heather- 
leigh. Dr. Eatright gave us an excellent talk. 

We gave our yell to show our appreciation of Dr. Eatright's talk. 



32 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

We made cocoa on our new coal-oil stove. We cooked pork and beans 
and made soup for dinner. We always thicken our soup with milk and 
flour, even bean soup. We drain out the beans after they are cooked, and 
pour thickening into the broth. 

Paul made himself a lettuce bed back of the house. The boys planted 
morning glories around their new open air bedrooms, to make the summer 
shade more dense. 

There was a wee boy 

Who slept outdoors, 
If he's not moved in 

He's still outdoors. 

Alfred and Herbert discovered a trap door leading to a subterranean 
passageway under our kitchen. They think it must have buried treasures 
hidden there. "It must be the secret vault of pirates," Alfred said. We 
asked him if he thought the pirates came from Pussy Willow Run. He 
thought they might. He says he is going to bring a lantern and explore. 
We're going to use this place as a cellar for our butter. 

The boys cleared the dining room tables to the tune of "It's a Long Way 
to Tipperary," marching to the kitchen as they sang. 

The eggs have hatched in the nests under our eaves. We all stood 
quietly this evening, listening to the tiny twitterings. Many happy homes 
are under our eaves. 

We have coaxed Prof. Gardener to give us space in the big High School 
garden. Bach of us will have a 6x12 garden. We have a hoe, a rake, a 
spade and plenty of garden seeds from the Government. Our path to the 
big garden winds in and out among the trees. We pass through an immense 
White "Violet bed, and many Spring Beauties. We found a Jack-in-the-Pulpit 
yesterday. 

April 30 — Alfred has shaved. Yes — twice. He has been needing it for 
some time. He looks improved. 

Paul made a sprinkler for his garden. He put nail holes in the bottom 
of a tin can. 

Eddie got his lessons early, going out afterward to cut burdock and 
plantain. 

Simple Simon found a Diamond 
Out in the good pure air; 

Said Simple Simon to the Diamond 
You look quite bright lying there. 

Said the Diamond to Simple Simon, 
You forgot to comb your hair. 

Said Simple Simon to the Diamond, 
Indeed I do not care. 

Said the Diamond to Simple Simon, 
You forgot to wash one tooth; 

Said Simple Simon to the Diamond, 
Alas! that is the truth! 

Said the Diamond to Simple Simon, 
You didn't clean your finger nails; 

Said Simple Simon to the Diamond, 
Stop telling me your tales. 

Said the Diamond to Simple Simon, 
None of your wails. 




THE SCHOOL 




TOUCHING SNOW IS NOT WRONG IN THIS SCHOOL 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 33 

Water you need — many full pails, 
Simple Simon went home to find 'em. 

He used a wet cloth with plenty of soap, 
Looked in the glass wth a ray of hope. 

A comb went through his tangled hair- 
To him an event very rare. 

Said Simple Simon to himself, 
Soap and water are quite a help, 

I look and feel much better, 

I am indeed their humble debtor. 

The brush and comb — I like them, too; 
With my cleaning I am almost through. 

My nails, I mustn't forget; 

I'll remove these crescents of jet. 

Then I'll wash my teeth 
In and out and underneath. 

Simple Simon found a Diamond 

While washing his face and combing his hair. 

He looked so shining and clean, 
Right there was the Diamond, I deem. 

MAY 

May 3 — The little birds under the eaves are learning to fly. Today, 
Nettie saw a woman on the street car with her fingers almost covered with 
beautiful dazzling rings; but Nettie said that the woman's finger nails were 
filled with dirt. When we wish to ornament the soil, we do landscape 
gardening. 

May 4 — A cold rain is falling today. It is a fine day for sleeping. Nearly 
everybody slept. 

Charlie likes to stretch, 
Charlie likes to sleep, 
Charlie likes to breathe 
Very slow and deep. 

The air is very good for breathing today. It has been freshly washed, 
and all the germs it might have contained have been carried to the ground. 

May 5 — We saw a little wren on our bird table. It is the first wren we 
have seen. Wrens are shy. 

Agnes has beautiful, long silky hair. She told us today that she uses 
a fine comb very often. We would like to know why hair dressers and hair 
specialists tell us never to use a fine comb. Everyone we know that uses 
one regularly has beautiful, thick hair. Agnes is careful not to scratch 
her scalp. She says it has a pretty pink color when she is through using 
the fine comb. That shows that she has brought new blood into the scalp. 
It is the new blood that makes her hair grow so well. 

The teacher knew a little girl whose mamma always put a pinch of 
salt into the basin of water before combing the little girl's hair. Into 
this mildly salted water, the mother dipped her comb occasionally while 
combing the hair. The salt kept the scalp healthy. It healed any little 
sores that might be there. The hair grew long and thick. 



34 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

May 6— Our little wren sang to us from the top of a big beech tree. 
Paul put a wren house up in a tree in his outdoor bedroom. 

May 7 — Mr. Optimist Trueblood, who is secretary of the State Society 
for Prevention of Tuberculosis, came out. He drew a queer picture on 
the board and he told us a funny story about the nurse. He acted like a big 
curious boy. He wanted to ring the bell to see what it would do. We per- 
mitted him. He gave us a good talk that simply filled us through and 
through with courage. 

Nahum Prince cleaned the dining room and wash room doors — also 
the wainscoting in the entry. Paul found twigs inside the wren house 
today. He did not touch them. 

May 10 — Eddie cut burdock out of the garden, and cleaned the paths. 
Agnes hoed the onions. 

Teacher: What did the doctor at the dispensary say about your sickness, 
Dorothea?" Dorothea: "He said, 'It was just Tipperary.'" She meant 
temporary. 

New Boy (embarrassed) to teacher: "May I do my arithmetic? Miss. 
Miss — Miss, What do you call it?" 

May 12 — We raked our front yard and cut the burdock. There is 
ever something to do. There is always the ever-growing burdock. We 
cleaned up our house. 

When the boys went to their cots under the trees today, they saw a 
little wren come out of Paul's wren house. 

In a polite note to the teacher, Dick was spoken of as Mr. Baker. 
Bessie says she would never call him Mr. Baker, even if he lived to be 
40,000 years old. 

This proves to be a day of surgery in the Fresh Air School. With an 
algebra class composed of one pupil asking about X, Y & Z on one side 
and a surgical case bemoaning his operation on the other, each sending 
up words of anguish, the teacher tried to do justice to the respective cases, 
yet preserve a calm central figure. 

The objects of her attention were Dick Baker on the right hand and 
Charlie Blair on the left, one with hand, heart and head in algebra, the 
other with foot and hand in a pan. Charlie went barefooted at home. He 
got a bad stone bruise. He went to the dispensary too late for treatment. 
He came to school with only one shoe. He was like the one-sandled man 
in the old story. The teacher had him give the foot a treatment of hot 
water and soap. Next she applied plenty of peroxide with absorbent cotton. 
After this, two good coats of "New Skin" were applied. Thanks to the 
New Skin Company, from whom the teacher begged two bottles. After this 
a good soft padding of absorbent cotton was fastened on; then Charlie 
wrapped his foot in his original cloth and slipped on his stocking. He 
said he felt better. 

Elmer had an accident, too, but it was his thinking pan instead of 
his motor part that was injured. While getting bread out of the big bread 
box at the barracks, he let the lid fall upon his head, making an unpleasant 
scalp wound. The teacher used peroxide on the cut. She applied two coats 
of "New Skin." That is better than vinegar and brown paper used by Jack 
and Jill to plaster their crowns. We hope Elmer will not be a "peroxide 
blond." 

May l'i> — Our burdock grows the fastest of anything around our school. 
It beats anything inside or outside of this school. It excels even Bessie,, 
who grows very rapidly, and that is saying a great deal about the growth 
of burdock. 

8A had to ask 3B how to spell "which." The 3B knew. 

The whole 8A class (total number — one) has trouble remembering what 
"product" means. 

May 14 — Who says Friday is an unlucky day? The boys got most of 
their garden in. We think we are lucky to get so much done. 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 35 

Dr. Cuer came along the road while we were working in the big high 
school garden. He didn't know the farmers at first. He doesn't seem to 
think that we know the first thing about gardening. He took the rake 
and raked a 6x12 space and half of another. Sometimes he "raked" us. 
We'll show him we do know how to make garden. I wonder if he thinks 
we are as big and strong and "smart" as he is. 

When he got through preparing his ground, he looked upon it with 
pride, saying, "Nov/ that is my idea of a garden." No wonder! He had 
been in the country and had looked at seven farms this morning. Why 
shouldn't he know what a garden should look like? Dr. Cuer is a tubercu- 
losis specialist, president of Marsh County Society for Prevention of Tubercu- 
losis and agricultural expert. "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." 

We had crackerjack for dessert. When the room was very quiet, we 
heard it cracking. Bessie said that it frightened her to hear the tiny little 
poppings when she went alone into the dining room. 

May 17 — Charlie Blair came to school whistling today. Whistling 
makes him breathe deeply and plumps the neck. 

Herbert, Beatrice and Bessie have to spend the afternoon in dentists' 
chairs. Poor children! How they wish they had taken care of their teeth 
in their younger days. Washing their teeth every morning, and again just 
before going to bed, would have saved the children many an ache. Children 
who don't wash their teeth ought to have several rows of teeth, as sharks 
have. When one tooth gets disabled another would move right up into its 
-place. 

Here is a good story the teacher told us today: 

"Once upon a time there was a boy who never washed his teeth. He 
injured his teeth in many ways, cracking nuts with them or biting thread. 
He sometimes filled his mouth with ice, after which he often took hot food, 
thus cracking the enamel. He did other injurious things. 

"His mother could do nothing with him. One day, being much troubled 
about her boy's teeth, she sought a good fairy. After hearing her story, 
the fairy said, 'Never mind, my dear. All will be well; I shall give your 
little boy a whole mouthful of good, hard, strong, sharp, shark teeth. He will 
never need to wash his teeth again. They will take care of themselves.' 

"One night when the boy was sound asleep, the good fairy slipped into 
his room and waved her wand above his mouth. All at once his jaw pro- 
truded to a great length and became filled with many strong white teeth. 

"The fairy left. The little boy slept on. When morning came, he waked 
up, stretched himself and yawned. How hideous he looked! His mother 
went into his room. She was horrified. How queer the little boy looked 
when he talked and when he ate his breakfast! His brothers and sisters 
stared at him. 

"The mother whispered to them, 'A fairy changed brother's teeth into 
shark's teeth last night because he wouldn't take care of his own teeth. 
These teeth will take care of themselves. If he breaks a tooth while cracking 
a nut, another tooth will move into its place. Take care of your teeth 
or the fairy may come into your room.' 

"At school, the children were frightened at first to see this strange 
looking boy. They ran from him. When they were told that he was given 
this strange mouthful of teeth because he neglected his own teeth, they 
laughed at him and poked their fingers at him. When he stood up to read, 
he looked so funny that the whole school burst into an uproar. He dropped 
into his seat and began to cry. 

"He looked funnier when he cried than when he read, so the school 
burst into another hearty laugh. The teacher shook her head and motioned 
the children into silence. She was sorry for the boy. 

"That night when he went home he begged his mother to ask the fairy 
to give him back his own teeth, promising faithfully to take good care of 
them. The mother loved her little boy, and could not bear to see him suffer, 
even if he had been careless and disobedient. 

"She went to the house of the good fairy. The fairy promised to give 



36 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

back the boy's own teeth. The little boy sobbed himself to sleep, and his 
pillow was wet with tears, when the bright little fairy happily slipped through 
the keyhole. She looked long and lovingly at the little boy. On the bed 
she found a note addressed to her. She picked it up and read it. This is 
what it said: 

" 'Dear Fairy: 

" 'I am sorry I didn't take care of my teeth. If you will please give 
me back my own teeth, I will always take good care of them. I will 
clean them every night and every morning. I will not crack nuts with 
them, or bite thread or do anything that will injure them. I will go to 
the dentist if I feel the very tiniest ache. Please, please give me back my 
own teeth.' 

"Then the little boy's name was signed, but I shall not tell you who he 
was, for he never wants anyone to know that he was once such a careless 
little boy. 

"The fairy read the note and smiled. She took her magic pen and wrote 
the following note: 
" 'Dear little boy: 

" 'I know you are sorry you did not take good care of your teeth. 
I am going to give you back your own teeth. I believe you will take good 
care of them now. Remember God never gave the shark hands to hold a 
tooth brush, so he gave him teeth that needed no care; besides there are 
no dentist's shops in the bottom of the ocean. If a shark had hands and only 
two rows of teeth, I know he would be a good little shark and wash his 
teeth every day. But listen! He does wash his teeth many times every day. 
All he has to do is to open his mouth and water already salted rushes in 
cleansing his teeth. 

" 'I am leaving you a brand new tooth brush, which I hope you will 
use every day. Take good care of your teeth and they will last you a life time. 

" 'HYGEIA.' 

"The fairy smilingly laid the note and tooth brush on the bed beside 
the boy. Then she waved her wand over the boy's mouth. The jaw receded 
and, behold! the boy's own teeth came back to him. 

"Then the fairy quietly slipped through the keyhole, softly winging 
her way on the dusky night air to some other home where she was needed. 
How happy the little boy was the next morning when he awoke and found 
he had his own teeth again. He read Hygeia's note with a pleased look 
upon his face. He lost no time in using the new tooth brush, and was happy 
ever after." 

Our new boy sounds like a rain crow when he sleeps. He must have 
adenoids. "We planted Woodbine Ivy against the front of the house. In 
time it ought to cover the front of the building. We transplanted our morning 
glories from the boxes to the ground in front of the house. They will grow 
more quickly than the ivy. 

We had luscious pineapple for dinner — also lamb. We hoped it wasn't 
Mary's little lamb; but you remember "Bo-Peep lost her sheep." 

Amos has a new job after school in the evenings — working for the Postal 
Telegraph Co. When he rode up swiftly on his beautiful new wheel this 
morning, tipping his messenger's cap to us, it gave us a sudden surprise 
thinking a messenger boy was bringing us some unexpected message. He 
says he will always bring us good messages. 

The air is cold and still today. 

May 18 — The blue flame in our coal oil stove has an edge at the top 
similar to the irregular outline of a doctor's temperature record. 

When Ben had finished his lessons, he painted a picture. He wanted 
to put stars in his picture; so he asked if some one could tell him whether 
the stars were blue or yellow. He was really serious. Jack Robinson asked 
him if he thought the moon was made of green cheese. The teacher will 
ask the nurse to test Ben's eyes. He may be color blind. 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 37 

In this school, we train for good looks as well as good health. We 
can not have good looks without good health. They walk hand in hand. 
They are like the Siamese twins — inseparable. We want to be good looking, 
and we don't care if the whole world knows about it. That is not vanity. 

We each want to be a pleasant spot upon the landscape. It gives us 
pleasure to look at a beautiful tree, or a dainty flower. A good looking boy 
or girl means more than a tree or flower. God intended that we should 
each be healthy and pleasing to look upon. We like to listen to a good 
looking boy when he speaks. When he pleases our eyes he is apt to please 
our ears. We can not be good looking if we are not clean and neat. 

Today, Aaron wanted to know who was better looking, he or Eddie? 
The nurse was glad of the rivalry, because it has been hard to get pride into 
Aaron. 

The teacher told us an apt story today, about a famous general. The 
general, once, while performing his toilet, was closely watched by a big 
colored boy. The general washed his teeth, combed his hair, brushed his 
clothes, blacked his shoes and did many other things necessary to a neat 
toilet. When he had finished the astonished colored boy stammered out, 
"Massa, are you always that much trouble to yourself?" 

Dick, 8A, had to ask how to spell "business." A 5B told him. We do 
business on the co-operative basis in this school. Eddie, a 2B, has volun- 
tarily joined a geography class. We planted more ivy today and watered 
our morning glories. 

Mark, Dick and Paul Joyce worked in the big garden. Eddie, Elmer 
and Egbert cut burdock again — the three E's. Naomi swept part of our 
front yard. She used a damp broom. Agnes, Beatrice and Celia weeded 
our onions. Agnes hoed the radishes. We had lettuce out of our garden 
today. It was only about two weeks from the seed to the table. 

May 19 — Eddie and Egbert (each aged nine) made cocoa today while the 
rest of the children had a grammar test. We had a good dinner — sausage, 
milk gravy, potatoes, tomatoes and young onions. The onions made us 
sleep fine. 

May 20 — Some of the children go to college every day — dental college. 
Herbert wants to smile all the time to show the gold the dentist put into 
his front tooth. 

Beatrice brought about a quarter of an inch of nerve to school that the 
dentist pulled out of her tooth. It would appear that the dentists at the 
college get more out of the children and put more into their heads than 
the teacher seems able to do. Beatrice showed the piece of nerve to every- 
body. It was thin, hair-like and dark brown; but one day she lost her nerve. 

We wrote some good stories about the care of the teeth. We had fairy 
stories, fables and imaginary dreams. We involved as much natural history 
as possible. One story portrayed a girl who disliked to wash her teeth. 
She asked for a bird mouth. Her wish was granted. She thought her 
troubles were ended because she had no teeth to wash; but, having no teeth, 
she could not chew her food and, having no gizzard full of pebbles with 
which to grind the food, she died of indigestion. 

May 21 — We keep stretching records. The teacher gave us all little pink 
cards with squares ruled on them. Each square holds the number of 
stretches we take in a day. Some children take a great many. It is fun 
to add them up and see how many we each have in a week. Sometimes we 
add everybody's stretches together to see how many times the whole school 
has stretched. It is as much fun to keep these records as it is to save your 
pennies. 

The teacher knows a sick girl eighteen years old. She has been in bed 
almost four months. She is too weak to walk. The doctors do not know 
the cause. The teacher gave her two pink cards, one for a breathing record 
and the other for a stretching record, dated for several weeks ahead. 

The girl took thirty-two deep breaths and thirty-two stretches last 
week. She felt so much stronger that with her mother's help she walked 



38 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

slowly into the kitchen to eat her little dinner. She was proud of her 
new strength so she walked into the front room. She did too much. Her 
weakness came back. 

The teacher teasingly declared after hearing this, that Milly would have 
to have a stepping record. She reminded Milly that she was like a baby 
just learning to walk. She must not try to do so much at once. She should 
take two or three steps from her bed; then drop back on the bed as if 
she were tired, whether she was or not. In an hour or two take two or three 
more steps. After a while add a step or two. The powers we have lost 
return only by slow degrees. The teacher told us about this girl to show us 
how greatly deep breathing and stretching increased the vitality even of a 
girl who was sick in bed. 

It was very still in the Fresh Air School today. This is test day in 
arithmetic. Everybody wants to pass. 

Little folks will have to perform more of the manual labor today. Aaron 
tied the big doors open, and brought in the milk bottles. It was a hard day 
for everybody. 

Bessie stayed all night with the teacher. Bessie's mother said she 
might. Each had an egg-pineapple which they took with them to a show 
downtown. They bought twenty cents' worth of milk chocolate. They saw 
some trained cats and heard a wonderful ventriloquist. Bessie noticed, 
especially, the well-developed chests of the men and women on the stage. 
She also noticed the graceful movements. When Bessie got to school today, 
she took out her cot, placed it by the window and slept for half an hour. 
Then she arose and asked for her test. 

Dick remarked that our school was as quiet as a regular school. That 
allows an inference as to what we do at other times. We are sometimes 
like an Egyptian school — all reciting together, helping each other. Aaron 
and Ben went to the grocery. When they came back they prepared lunch. 
They gave us bread, butter, radishes and milk. The nurse brought out white 
radishes and Naomi brought red ones from her own home garden. The boys 
put the Avhite radishes in the center of a big meat plate. They laid the red 
radishes around the edge for trimming. It was a dish "pretty enough to set 
before a king." "We put our test papers in the desks while having lunch. 
Aaron cleaned the tops of the desks after lunch. 

May 24— We saw a young squirrel. 

And still we go to the dentist every day. Every bad tooth is going to 
be repaired. Our resolution is to take good care of our teeth in the future. 

Last winter Beatrice had the toothache very often. We did not have 
free dental work then. The teacher tried to coax Beatrice to go to a dentist. 
She declared that no dentist would get hold of her. She said that she just 
hated dentists. 

The teacher tided Beatrice and her aching tooth through the winter. 
Although Beatrice was a big girl, sixteen years old, she would sometimes 
cry with pain. Frequently the teacher gave her a glass bottle of hot water 
to hold against her cheek. Ofttimes the teacher would make a tiny ginger 
poultice for the tooth. 

This is the way the teacher made the poultice: She took a tiny piece 
of cheese cloth about an inch square, placing in it a small quantity of 
ginger. Then she sewed it up. It was ready for service. Beatrice placed 
the hot, biting, grateful little poultice inside her mouth at the root of 
her tooth against the gum. 

The poultices grew in demand for other aching teeth. One night 
the teacher sat up very late making a whole cocoa can full of little poultices. 
It took a great many because the poultices had to be thrown away before 
lunch and before dinner. Though a great soother they were, after all, only 
a temporary relief. 

Every time a tooth aches, it talks to its owner. It says, "Little girl, 
take me to the dentist and let him stop up the hole where the air gets in 
and touches my nerve. I hate to cause you pain, but it is the only way I 
have to make you know that I am beginning to decay. If I didn't talk to 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 39 

you over my little telephone wire, the nerve, I would rot away and fall 
out of your mouth. Listen to me and take me to the dentist early." 

We saw a young flicker. We identified it on our bird chart. 

We had another mess of lettuce out of our school garden. The rose 
buds are bursting near our school. 

May 25 — Dr. Clay visited us again. He was pleased with our new screens 
and our school garden. 

The girls worked in the big garden today. They improvised sunbonnets 
by pinning newspapers on their heads. After working, they ate their lunch 
of milk and crackers under the trees. They used newspapers for mats to 
sit upon. 

We saw two beautiful blue jays as we were going to the garden. The 
boys stayed at the building and ate their lunch. After lunch, three boys 
put the dinner on while the others studied. When the girl's hour in the 
garden had passed, Dick rang the bell for their return. 

We aired and sunned our blankets and suits again today. 

The nurse brought us strawberries for dinner. 

She weighed the children after dinner. Just before dismissal she read 
•everybody's first weight and the last weight for the year. Bach child 
figured out his own gain for the year. Mark heads the list — 19% lbs.; 
Dick, 14 lbs.; Bessie, 16 lbs. Everybody has gained. The teacher has 
gained 10% lbs. 

Father was overjoyed tonight when I told him I had gained nine pounds 
since I started to this school. 

Once a little boy 

In a Fresh Air School 

Grew so very fat 

He had to get 

Brand new clothes, 

And now everybody 

Looks at him wherever he goes. 

The nurse asked the children what they were going to be when they 
got big? Charlie Blair is going into the navy. Bessie is to be a nurse. 
Several are going to be school teachers. Naomi (nine years old) turned 
to the teacher and said, "Miss Thompson, what are you going to be when 
you get big?" Alas! The little teacher will never get big. 

May 26 — This is a rainy day. 

We got so used to keeping on our hats in school in cold weather, that 
now and then a few hats are forgotten and kept on the head. The teacher 
locked up some ill-mannered hats today. 

We oiled the hinges of the screen doors. They don't screech any more 
and wake us up at the wrong time. Eddie steps very lightly if he leaves 
the room during the sleeping hour. 

We had a pleasant surprise today. The teacher told us that we were 
going to have chicken for dinner. We were all hungry and could hardly 
wait; but when dinner was ready we couldn't eat the chicken, for the chicken 
was eating his own dinner. He was a toy chicken, almost as big as the little 
boy who was feeding him. 

The boy was a little Jap. He was sitting down holding a pan upon his 
knees. The chicken ate and ate and ate, swinging his body rhythmically and 
picking in the pan incessantly. We all laughed to see him eat so heartily. 
He was wound with a spring, so he was a real spring chicken, yet not a 
real chicken. 

The teacher made the landscape around him look very real. He was 
placed in a plate. The plate was covered with delicate grasses that the 
children had gathered. A very tall grass that looked something like a tree 
stood back of the boy. 



40 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

May 27 — This is a cold, rainy, windy day. It is fifty degrees in our school 
room. 

Some children came with wet feet. They took off their shoes and dried 
their feet by the fire, while the owners of the shoes studied. 

Jack Robinson, Beatrice and Bessie had to go to the dentist. They ate 
an early dinner. They had fun while eating. Bessie says, "Laughing makes 
you fat." She says she ought to gain forty pounds a day. 

Forty is Bessie's favorite number. She counts everything by forty and 
works "like sixty." 

Eddie and Aaron worked out their multiplication tables from the count- 
ing board. They wrote each answer as they worked it out. The teacher 
showed them how to study. They read each little problem with the answer, 
then covered the answer and said it over. Afterwards they folded the paper 
so that the answers were hidden. They did their work on the board. Then 
they turned to their answers and marked their work. 

Sadie stayed all night with the teacher, because the teacher's brother 
was out of the city. Each had an egg-pineapple downtown. They went to 
Keith's. Sadie laughed from the time the curtain went up until it fell for 
the last time. Laughing causes fattening, a good remedy for all ills. They 
learned how to make a watermelon talk. "Dig it out and make it hollow." 
They got home early after the show, read the 14th of St. John, talked about 
how good God is, said their prayers, then tumbled into their respective beds, 
slumbering peacefully until morning. 

At dinner today Sadie told some of the jokes they heard last night. 

Eddie had a "head and foot class" in tables. He used his paper, that 
has the answers. 

May 28 — Our good friend Dr. Eatright came again. He brought Dr. 
Strong, Mr. Archer and Miss Kaufman. He brought something else, too — 
candy. Wasn't that sweet of him? He told us another story, quite different 
from the first. His other story was so funny that we still laugh about it, 
but Dr. Eatright can also be serious. 

The new story was about a boy who disobeyed his mother — waded in 
deep water — got sick and died. Dr. Eatright emphasized the fact that chil- 
dren should obey their parents and teachers. Older people know best what 
children should do. 

We coaxed Dr. Strong to talk. He emphasized the fact that without good 
health we are only about fifty per cent efficient. He illustrated it clearly 
to the children by asking if a horse could do good work with a heavy load 
tied around its neck? When the company was leaving, the teacher said, 
"We are so glad you came." As they were stepping into their machine, 
Paul Barclay said, "I am glad they came because they brought this candy." 
Shame on Piggy Paul! 

May 31 — This is an important day because it is Naomi's birthday. We 
all whipped her. Each gave her ten licks and one to make her fat. We 
didn't hit her hard, but now she is sure to grow. 

The horse was in our garden again. He must think he has a plow 
attached to him. The ground looks that way. Maybe he used a churn. He 
tore up a great part of our onions and lettuce. 

A little squirrel climbed upon our bird table. He was disappointed 
because the table was bare. Herbert went out and put plenty of bread 
crumbs upon the upper and lower part of the table. Near by, Mr. Squirrel 
sat watching him. When Herbert left, the squirrel soon climbed upon the 
table. He ate for a long time. He must have been quite hollow from the 
length of time it took him to fill his stomach. 

While he was on the lower part of the table, a saucy little sparrow lit 
upon the upper part. When Mr. Squirrel had cleaned up everything down- 
stairs he went upon the upper deck to finish filling himself after chasing 
away the sparrow. 

Dick, Elmer and Herbert are getting dinner. We are going to have an 
unusually good dinner today. Beefsteak, milk, gravy, dates with milk and 
bread and butter and potatoes. 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 41 

Some of us can strike the backs of the hands behind us. Sadie, Beatrice, 
Herbert, Dick, Elmer, Mark, Jack Robinson and the teacher can all ac- 
complish this feat. The teacher did it twenty-five times today. It is difficult 
to do. Raise the arms forward, keeping them level with the shoulders. 
Quickly and forcibly throw the arms backward, remembering to keep the 
arms high. After several attempts you feel the back of the hands strike. 
This is fine for straightening shoulders. It should be done a few times each 
day. It must not be practiced if the nurse or doctor says the child is not 
strong enough. 

How straight Elmer's back is growing! The teacher says we can all 
have straight backs if we try. We are going to try every day. 

I know a girl named Sally May, 
She lives outdoors the livelong day. 

JUNE 

June 1 — We are glad to see sunshine today after so many cloudy days. 
"Oh, what is so rare as a day in June?" 

We found a locust shell. A little wren came out of Paul's wren house. 

Grapes are in bloom near our school. We breathe deeply when we pass 
them to get their sweet odor. 

Elmer picked up a snake skin. 

We put stakes and strings to some of our morning glories. The teacher 
gave Beatrice's fever blister a coat of "New Skin." We cleaned our front 
yard again. Here is today's dinner menu: Pork chops and milk gravy, 
creamed potatoes, vegetable soup with butter crackers, strawberries. 

What would Dr. Eatright say to that? He always says, "What did you 
have for dinner?" 

The coal oil man came. While making out the bill, he said that nobody 
must say a word while he wrote Anti-Tuberculosis Society, or he would 
spell it wrong. We all kept quiet and he missed it any way, but we didn't 
tell him. 

June 2 — We finished stringing our morning glories. Ann Hathaway's 
cottage will not be the only vine-covered cottage in history. We set out 
our marigolds and candy tuft in front of the morning glories. We put mari- 
golds and candy tuft into the top of the stumps. We have wild cucumber 
vines at the side of the house. We got them from the banks of Pussy Willow 
Run. We raked our front yard. Agnes dampened the broom and swept the 
yard. The boys fixed our cinder walk where the milk man spoiled it with 
his wagon. 

We made the inside of our house pretty by placing bouquets of roses here 
and there. Company came durng our sleeping hour. It was the City Board 
of Health, invited by our nurse. We looked so attractive that we got an 
endowment of twelve hundred dollars a year from the board. 

June 3 — Herbert likes the dental college. His first dentist gave him 
fifteen cents. The second dentist bought him his dinner, the third gave 
him a leather pocketbook that came from Michigan and had six cents in it. 
The fourth one gave him a quarter. Whoever heard of such lovely dentists? 
We thought it was the rule to pay the dentists, rather than for them to pay 
us. 

A little sparrow drove a big blackbird off our bird table today. 

We found a large shell-less snail under a stone in our front yard. It 
was four inches long without stretching our story or the snail. 

Miss Hurt said she saw Ben on a street car. "He tipped his hat beau- 
tifully." She was proud to know him. 

June 4 — The little wrens fly in and out of the wren house. We saw the 
shadow of a sparrow as it flew quite close to the ground. We saw a martin. 
A fussy sparrow drove a blackbird off the bird table. The greedy sparrow 
did not want the blackbird to have any of the crumbs. 



42 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

Dick shaves, too. He lias been so secretive about it that we did not know. 

The nurse brought us some rhubarb today. We cooked it without peeling 
it. We also cooked the white end that most people throw away. It was 
all. tender when cooked. We think we know what Dr. Eatright would say. 
He would tell us that the peelings are good for us. They will keep us 
healthy. He says that people make a mistake when they peel potatoes. 

He once made that remark to Governor Wholesome. The governor, a 
big healthy man, said, "Why, I have eaten potatoes with the jackets on all 
my life, and people laugh at me." "That is why you are so healthy," Dr. 
Eatright told him. 

Dr. Wiley, in "Good Housekeeping" for August, 1917, says that "rhubarb 
is chiefly valuable for its condimental and laxative properties, and should 
be eaten in very small quantities, and little or none should be given to chil- 
dren." The article is especially interesting, because he tells of the poisons 
that rhubarb contains. 

June 7 — This is a dark rainy day. Three children are in the hospital 
to get their tonsils and adenoids removed. 

We had lettuce, radishes and onions out of our own garden. 

Naomi took out her cot after the nine o'clock lunch and went to sleep. 
Elmer slept on his desk. Naomi needed the rest but I was not sure about 
Elmer. I told Father that I thought Elmer didn't go to bed as early as he 
should but Father said that some people need more sleep than others. 

Eddie used to be so nervous that he could not lie still on his cot. When 
the teacher laid her hand upon his body she found him quivering all over. 
Now his body has ceased these twitchings and he lies quietly on his cot. 
Deep slow breathing is quieting his nerves. The teacher used to sit upon 
the side of his cot when he was very nervous and whisper four slow counts 
while he took a slow deep breath. Then she whispered four more slow 
counts while he let the breath out. When he had taken ten slow breaths 
his twitchings ceased almost completely. 

At times the teacher laid a clean cloth across his eyes. It was like 
night under the cloth and it helped to quiet him. 

Ben came to school barefooted. Bessie measured Herbert's chest while 
expanded — 31% inches — Eddie 25 inches — Ben 28% inches — Celia 32% inches 
— Essie 29 inches — Paul Barclay 28 inches — Dick 35% inches— Sadie 33 
inches. 

Many blackbirds stopped in our east yard. We heard a cat bird. Five 
sparrows hopped about our bird table. We saw a flicker pulling worms out 
of our east yard. 

Paul saw a blackbird get a bug off of a leaf. Then he flew to the bird 
table and got some bread. Bread and bugs taste good together. We didn't 
notice whether he made them into a sandwich. 

Blackbirds walk like chickens. Robins hop. 

Bessie took home lettuce from our school garden. Paul took home 
lettuce from his own school garden again. He was charitable. He let 
Elmer pull up a mess, too. Elmer found a lovely big snail in the lettuce. 
He asked permission to take it home to his brother. It is the second one 
he has taken home. Does his brother eat the snails? 

Wood's Natural History tells us that a common snail is considered a 
great delicacy of food by people in different parts of the world. No, Elmer's 
brother is not eating the snails. He is making pets of them. We hope the 
snails like their new home and get plenty of nice crisp lettuce to eat. 

Fanny told us today that she had no tooth brush at home and no money 
with which to buy one. She uses a little clean rag on her teeth every day. 
"Where there is a will there is a way." 

June 8 — We heard our cat bird again. When we looked sharply we 
saw him on a tree. Another flock of forty or fifty blackbirds swooped down 
into our east yard, chattering noisily. Sometimes they sound like a squeaking 
gate. 

Bessie visited Beatrice in the hospital and took her a bouquet of roses 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 43 

out of our yard. Beatrice is having her tonsils removed. A man with a 
delivery of hay for the barn enquired at our house. We know our house 
looks like a barn and we all work like horses. We have good "horse sense," 
but we didn't know that we looked like the equine species. 

June 9 — We took a stroll. We saw an apple tree full of fruit. We saw 
poison ivy and five leaf ivy. Strange they often grow so near each other — 
one so dangerous, the other so innocent. 

We gathered greens, including six kinds: dandelions, sour grass, yellow 
dock, plantain, tongue grass and radish tops. We cooked ham with our 
greens. Dates and milk were our dessert. Would Dr. Eatright like our 
dinner today? Amos never tasted greens before. He liked them. 

Agnes said before dinner that she didn't like greens. Sbe was prevailed 
upon to take a taste. She asked for more. This proves that people don't 
always know what they like, unless they do some tasting. The man at the 
barracks asked for a multiplication card. He said he had never had an op- 
portunity to learn the tables but wished to do so. Studious ways are infec- 
tious. Seeing us study out in the breezy open made him want to fill his 
cranium, too. 

June 10 — Purple vines are blossoming in our open air bed rooms. Eddie 
helped the teacher fill the tank to the coal oil stove. It was a good problem 
in liquid measure. They used a quart can and found that the tank held four, 
making a gallon. 

Mr. Bird brought us a bag of ripe cherries that grew right on our school 
ground. Soon he came again with a bunch of luscious strawberries, each 
berry still clinging to its little branch. Some of us breathed in the delicious 
odor. 

The children asked to have yesterday's menu repeated. It must have 
been considered good. The odor from the boiling ham smells good floating 
from the kitchen into the school room. We can almost taste the ham when 
we breathe deeply. 

The boys worked in the big garden today. They took milk and crackers 
to the garden for lunch. They buried their milk bottles to keep the milk 
cool. Some of the girls gathered greens. Bessie and Celia went to the 
grocery. 

Amos found a beautiful snake skin, the longest we have seen — about 
two feet long. Th'e snake had climbed up into a hollow tree to cast his skin. 
The head skin broke off and Amos was unable to get that. 

Naomi and Eddie worked problems by the hour glass. Gathering greens 
made Bessie, Celia and Agnes hungry. They drank more milk. We saw a 
yellow butterfly hovering over the roadway. Elderberries are blooming 
back of the house. The odor is wafted into our dining room. 

Celia wore a new dress today. She made it herself in the sewing school 
at Canterbury Hall. 

A man sawed down a tree while we were sleeping. Herbert, who was 
still awake, whispered to the teacher that somebody was sawing wood. Soon 
some one began to snore. With a merry twinkle in his eye Herbert repeated, 
"Some one else is sawing wood." 

June 11 — We made soap bubbles today. Essie blew the biggest bubble 
of the whole school. It was bigger than her head, but her head contains more. 
The children stood on the desks and kept their bubbles floating high in the 
air as long as possible. It was a good breathing exercise. Some of the girls 
joined their bubbles together and made beautiful double bubbles. 

Naomi says onion stems make fine bubbles. Dandelion stems make 
nice little bitter bubbles, puckering up the mouth nicely. 

While the cat is away the mice will play. The nurse is in California. 

We had piles of ice cream and cake today. 

Our dinner was preceded by a paper bag blowing contest. We had 
lots of fun. We blew and blew and blew until our bags were perfectly 
tight. Then at a signal everybody popped his sack. It sounded like a cannon. 

The next sack we used differently. Everybody got ready. Then Agnes 



44 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

popped hers, next Beatrice, and so on down the rows around the school. 
Scarcely a second elapsed between the beautiful popping noises. Everybody 
had to be on the alert to pop at the right time. Dick asked to be last. He 
wound up the contest with a most deafening pop. 

Our breathing record shows that we each have taken 5,516 deep breaths 
this year. How far would that blow a sail boat? 

This is our last day of school. Dick told the teacher that this had been 
the happiest school year in his whole life. He probably voiced the sentiment 
of the entire school, for we all have been very happy. Dr. Clay told us that 
we are ending the year very successfully. 



OUR HYGIENE POSTERS 

Our posters are a regular hygiene lecture, talking to us each time we 
look upon them. 

The teacher made our posters. She took pictures of happy, healthy 
looking children from backs of magazines. She got beautiful big pictures 
of fruit from advertisements. She found pictures of children eating cereals. 
She used any good sized picture that told a real health story. 

She trimmed the pictures nicely and mounted them neatly upon cream 
colored poster paper. Below each picture she printed appropriate words. 
She used the nurse's type. The letters are large and can be read across the 
room. 

She mounted the posters upon pretty brown cardboard, and with thumb 
tacks she fastened the posters upon the wall. 

One is a beautiful dish of peaches, pears, grapes and other fruit. Below 
we read the words: "One kind of fruit at a meal is best." 

Another is a pretty girl with beautiful hair. Below are the words: 
"I like to make my hair look pretty. Do you?" 

Another is the picture of three children scrubbing their teeth. The 
words are: "We hate dirty teeth. Do you know any one who has dirty 
teeth?" 

Another is the picture of a mother combing her little girl's hair. The 
words are: "Who combs your hair? How does it look now?" 

Another is the picture of a little girl washing her brother's hair. She 
has his head covered with lather. He looks as if he had on a white wig. 
The words are: "Soap and water make a transformation." 

Another is the picture of a small child whose head is sticking above 
the bathtub. His mother is going to give him a good cleansing. The words 
are: "I like my Saturday tub bath. Do you?" 

Another is the picture of a red-haired boy standing back of his grand- 
father and nearly bursting with laughter because the old man can not get 
a problem that the boy knows all about. The words are: "This boy's head 
is bright inside, as well as outside. I wonder if he goes to Fresh Air School? 
Sharp air makes sharp wits." 

A most spiritual child, pictured in two tones of brown, has the words: 
"Everybody loves a good child. Does everybody love you?" This picture and 
this thought contain enough for several morning exercises. 

A glass dish of ripe strawberries looks appetizing on another poster. 
The words are: "The juice of fruit is good for the stomach and intestines." 

Another poster contains the picture of two little girls standing on the 
bank of a stream. A little frog is coming out of the stream. One girl is 
much frightened, but the other girl is bravely pointing to the frog with a 
stick and saying, "Keep your feet dry and warm. I mean you, you little 
frog." But the teacher told the children she meant each child who had 
cold or wet feet when she said "little frog," for a frog is always cold. Have 
you heard the expression, "As cold as a frog?" 

A picture of a bough of peaches is at the top of another poster. The 
bough is placed against the very edge of the noster and makes us think the 
whole tree, bearing down with the ripe fruit, is close by. The peaches peep 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 45 

out from under the green leaves. Under the bough are the words: "If our 
beech trees were peach trees, oh my, oh my, oh my!" This ground is full of 
beech trees. 

Another is the picture of a pretty girl in a scarlet jacket and an outing 
hat. She carries a golf club. The words are: "Outdoor life brings health 
and beauty." 

Another is a picture of an exceedingly good looking boy with a football 
in his arms. His mouth is open as if he is calling loudly. He has beautiful 
teeth. His hair is much tangled, but the teacher said that boys are excused 
for untidy hair when they are playing hard. We know the boy is yelling 
in the game, but at the side of the picture we have the words of our class yell. 

A simple poster that our eyes can often fall upon bears a picture in 
the upper left corner. It is a picture of a delicious dish of ice cream. Above 
it is a small pitcher delicately tipped to allow a generous flow of good brown 
chocolate upon the cream. We have only a suggestion of the hands that 
pour. Just the tips of the fingers do we see. Below are the words we 
should remember to say: "Thank you." 

A beautiful dreamy-eyed child has the words below her picture: "Beauty 
is more than skin deep." 

A mere baby with two cunning teeth showing above and below in his 
open mouth has this motto below his picture: "Kiss the baby on the cheek, 
not the mouth." The teacher said it was better for the baby if he were 
never kissed at all. 

Another picture shows a pretty girl holding daintily some pink roses 
against her dress. Her hand is clean and white. We know she keeps her 
hands well washed. Below are the words: "I cleaned my finger nails today. 
Did you?" 

A brown-haired chap is sinking his strong white teeth into a big slice 
of bread. Below his picture the words read: "Bread and butter is good 
enough for me." 

A rosy-cheeked girl in a sunbonnet with a trim bow tied under her chin 
tells us: "There is no beauty without health." 

A yellow-haired boy in a high chair has a glass of milk and a dish of 
cereal before him. He takes time to look around at us and laugh while he 
says: "This is the life." Below are the words: "Eat plenty of good food." 

A smiling girl with a sparkle in her eye has the words below her picture: 
"I have cleaned my teeth today. Have you?" 

A mother with five children, one in the bathtub and the others happily 
waiting, make an interesting picture. Below are the words: "I took a bath 
today. Did you?" 

Fruit hangs from the corner of one poster, while at the bottom is a dish 
of big luscious strawberries with a sprinkling of sugar. The words are: 
"Eat ripe fruit." 

A fat boy with bowl tipped and spoon crowded into his mouth has the 
words below his picture: "Eat slowly. Chew your food well." 

A friendly boy smiling and showing pretty teeth, while lifting his spoon 
from a bowl of something good, says to us: "Will you eat breakfast with 
me? I shall be glad to have you." 

A boy biting into a rosy apple has this motto below his picture: "An 
apple a day keeps the doctor away." 

A laughing girl is eating from a pretty bowl. Below are the words: 
"Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we get weighed." 

A picture of a grandmother pouring a spoonful of castor oil, while her 
little grandson holds his mouth wide open, has the one word printed below: 
"Preparedness." 

Skates thrown over the shoulder of a warmly clad boy tell us: "Outdoor 
sports bring good health." 

A little girl looks pleasingly down into a dish of cereal and fruit while 
she pours cream. Her picture has the words below it: "See my good 
breakfast." 



46 SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 

The teacher could not find enough pictures to tell all the health stories 
she wanted to tell, so she painted some. 

She painted the picture of a very little boy and a very big spoonful of 
castor oil. The spoon is twice as big as the boy and is so full of oil that 
it is dripping. The boy's mouth is turned down, and his nose is turned up. 
His hair is standing on end. Below are the words: "How the spoonful 
of castor oil looked to Jimmie." We keep this in the nurse's room so we 
don't see it very often. 

She painted the picture of a boy asleep in a white bed under an apple 
tree. The blossoming boughs are bending over him and the green grass is 
all around him. The words are: "There was a wee boy who slept outdoors. 
If he has not moved in he is still outdoors." 

She painted the picture of the nurse weighing one of our boys, but she 
couldn't make the nurse as pretty as our nurse is and Elmer got "mad" 
when the boys said he was the boy. This is a picture without words. 

We have many more posters that tell health stories, but it would take 
too long to describe them all. 



THE END OF THE GERM 

Once a little Germ lived in the dark corner of a gloomy room. Nobody 
knew he lived there because he was too little to be seen. 

He had brothers and sisters who lived in a dark corner across the room, 
but he never visited them, and they did not visit him. They had good reasons. 

The Keeper of the Germs kept her shades drawn up a tiny bit. A 
narrow stream of sunshine fell across the room. The little Germs would 
have to cross the bright streak if they visited. To them it meant death; for 
no little germ of tuberculosis can live longer than three seconds in sunshine. 

When the Keeper of the Germs found they could not live in sunshine 
she raised all her shades very high. 

The room was flooded with sunshine and all the little Germs died, just 
as bad little Germs should do. 



SOME OF OUR HEALTH RULES 

1. Take at least ten deep breaths in the open air every day. 

2. Drink plenty of milk. 

3. Eat good hot soup. 

4. Drink a cup of hot cocoa between breakfast and the noon meal. Do 
not ever drink tea or coffee. 

5. Eat a hearty dinner at noon. 

6. Eat slowly and chew your food well. 

7. Drink a cup of hot milk in the middle of the afternoon. 

8. Lie down for one hour after your noon meal. 

9. Take a short walk every pleasant day. 

10. Do not tire yourself. 

11. Keep your feet warm and dry. 

12. Keep your body warm, too. 

13. Keep clean. 

14. Keep Dr. Cuer's rule to bathe all over at least once a week. 

15. Wash your teeth twice a day. 

16. Be happy 

17. Have lots of fun. 

18. Laugh all you can. * 

19. Look as pretty as you can. It makes you happier and makes others 
happy to look at you. 

20. Weigh yourself every week. 

21. Try to gain a little weight each week. 



SAVED FROM TUBERCULOSIS 47 

22. Stretch a little every day. Measure your height. See how much you 
grow in a month. 

23. Keep your hands clean. 

24. Learn something new each day. 

25. Learn a new word each day, and use it at least once every day. 

26. Try to do something today better than you have ever done before. 

27. Think out some hard problem today that you couldn't think out 
yesterday. 

28. When lessons are hard look up to the sky and the trees. Watch 
the squirrels play and listen to the chirp of the birds. Look at 
your problem again. It will be easier. 

29. When your eyes are tired look far, far away, or close your eyes 
for a few minutes. 

30. Be good. 

31. Think good pure thoughts. 

32. Try to make your mind a little more pure each day, like a little 
house full of good things to think about. 

33. Sing or whistle while you work. 
•34. Listen to good music. 

35. Read good stories. 

36. Love all things God has made and study His ways. 

37. A strong mind can make your body strong, and a strong body can 
make your mind strong. 

38. Think cheerful thoughts before dropping into slumber. 

39. When you wake up in the morning think of one of the very best 
times you ever had in your life and go to the breakfast table in a 
pleasant mood. 

40. Try to make your body a little better each day. Ask the nurse, the 
doctor, the teacher or your mother anything you want to know to 
make you healthy. 



SOME OF OUR SLEEPING RULES 

1. Sleep with windows open winter and summer. 

2. Do not cover the nose while sleeping. 

3. Sleep one hour every day after the noon meal. 

4. Go to bed at a regular hour. Make it early. 

5. Lie straight. 

6. Learn to do without a pillow. You'll like it. 

7. Keep stretched out straight while lying down. 

8. Don't make a letter z out of yourself while sleeping. 



OUR BEAUTY SECRETS 

1. Living in the open air. 

2. Breathing deeply. 

3. Keeping clean. 

4. Eating good food. 

5. Resting. 

6. Being happy. 

7. Taking pleasant walks. 

8. Learning something new each day. 

9. Singing, working and playing a little every day. 
10. Being good. 



The Breath of Life 

OUR BREATHING RECORD 

The number in each square shows the number of deep breaths 
the class took each day 



October 12 
October 19 
October 26 

November 2 
November 9 
November 16 
November 23 
November 30 
December 7 
December 14 
December 21 
December 28 
January 4 
January 11 
January 18 
January 25 
February 1 
February 8 
February 15 
February 22 
March 1 
March 8 
March 15 
March 22 
March 29 
April 12 
April 19 
April 26 
May 3 
May 10 
May 17 
May 24 
May 31 
June 7 



Mon. 
5 

15 

20 

20 

30 

20 

20 

30 

25 

23 

35 
Va. 
' 30 

55 

35 

45 

30 

40 

40 
Va. 

49 

26 

37 

40 

26 

35 

20 

35 

35 

40 

45 

45 

45 

35 



Tues. 

10 

15 

22 

22 

30 

20 

20 

57 

68 

25 

40 
Va. 

50 

30 

30 

50 

25 

60 

44 

25 

33 

20 

29 

44 

25 

35 

26 

35 

50 

40 

40 

38 

31 

35 



Wed. 

15 

17 

22 

24 

53 

22 

34 

47 

35 

60 

40 
Va. 

30 

60 

35 

50 

30 

30 

30 

55 

38 

21 

21 

47 

47 

35 

25 

29 

44 

40 

42 

35 

27 

20 



Thurs. 

15 

18 

25 

25 

35 

22 
Va. 

30 

75 

35 
Va. 
Va. 

30 

50 

30 

70 

30 

43 

50 

40 

25 

93 

43 

24 

45 

25 

40 

30 

47 

45 

40 

35 

20 

35 



Fri. 

15 
20 
25 
25 
30 
22 

Va. 
20 
20 
70 

Va. 

Va. 
61 
45 
45 
50 
30 

Va. 
25 
20 
29 
16 
31 
46 
50 
35 
35 
35 
25 
40 
46 
25 
40 
55 



Total 
for Week 

60 

85 
114 
116 
178 
106 

74 
184 
223 
213 
115 

201 
240 
175 
265 
145 
173 
189 
140 
174 
176 
161 
201 
193 
165 
146 
164 
201 
205 
213 
178 
163 
180 



259 October Total 



658 November Total 



551 December Total 



881 January Total 



647 February Total 



810 March Total* 



570 April Total* 



842 May Total* 
298 June Total* 

5,516 Total Deep 

Breaths for Year 

* The week beginning- March 29 ends with April 1 and 2, which must be 
added in with the April record and subtracted from the March total. May and 
June also overlap. 



LET THIS LITTLE BOOK DO ALL 
THE GOOD IT CAN— PASS IT ON 



wnm^l°f CONGRESS 



020 948 991 



